Si Vis Amari, Ama If you want to be loved, love
by kbeckett
Summary: Buffy and Willow's continuing adventures. More demon problems, and this time the girls receive some help from across the Atlantic. Story contains an established relationship between two women - if this offends, do not read.
1. Aquila Non Captat Muscas

**Si ****Vis Amari, Ama**** (If you want to be loved, love)**

Disclaimers:

Buffy, Willow and all of the other characters and places from the show are © to Joss Whedon, UPN and Mutant Enemy etal. Harry, Hermione and the other characters and places from Harry Potter are © to JK Rowling – I am just playing in their sandboxes. Everyone and everything else is mine. None of my characters are meant to resemble anyone living, dead or un-dead, if you see yourself you are looking way too hard.

Rating:

R, M, for adult audience etc. – for violence, and established relationships between women. If this offends you, don't read.

Spoilers and other ramblings:

Buffyverse – Everything up to the middle of season four – I diverge then.

Harryverse – Everything up to and including most of book 6 – I may be using parts of books 7 but certainly not all of it (especially the epilogue).

This is a sequel to Militat Omnis Amans (Every Lover is a Warrior), and while I think it can stand on its own, you will get a lot more out of the story if you have read Militat.

Story begins in October 2000. Harry will have turned 20, Hermione 21, Buffy 19(20) and Willow 18(19) – reasons for the bracketed ages will be apparent to those who have read Militat, but will become obvious to others in this story.

Ships:

Buffy/Willow, Harry/Hermione

Other:

The Latin and Gaelic are mine; I take the responsibility for any translations of them. In addition, the descriptions of the rituals, spells and other craft work come from my traditions, so please don't take offence if something described here does not match your traditions or what you think it should.

Please note that things perceived by characters other than by the five acknowledged senses have been enclosed in _Italics_.

Feedback:

Please. And thanks to all who have commented on previous efforts, I appreciate everything that was said. As before, all meaningful criticism, support and suggestions are welcome.

* * *

**Chapter****I – ****Aquila non captat muscas**

**(The eagle does not capture flies)**

The city of Sunnydale California was wrapped in the blanket of darkness and smothered by a fall fog. There was hardly any wind and the temperature had not noticeably dropped from the unseasonably hot temperatures that had cooked everyone earlier in the day. It was the ebb of the night, just before three, and there was stillness throughout the city, not all of which could be explained by the hour, or by the weather.

Deep in the industrial section of the city the mists were, if possible, even heavier as they clung to the poorly lit streets and sidewalks. The streets and sidewalks were slick from the mist, and water ran from the facades of the old soot covered brick buildings that lined both sides of the streets to be collected in pools that had formed in the potholes of the streets and in the cracks in the sidewalks.

The shops and small manufacturing ventures, which dominated this area, were all closed for the day, with thick steel bars and shutters blocking their windows and doors. The lighting was sparse, and originated from old, sodium based, streetlights, thus turning the mist into a deathly pale orange. The area was worse than poorly maintained, the city fathers having decided that spending money on more 'public' areas was a better, and more voter happy, use of tax dollars.

There was a thick oily, almost metallic, odour, which clung to the fog and was a constant reminder of the work done in the area during the sunlit, safe, part of the day. This smell had been mixed with the organic odour of uncollected garbage and other refuse, which had accumulated along the edge of the street and was heaped in the various side alleys that criss-crossed the entire area. The old twisted streets and alleys turned the area into a maze that few were able to navigate, at any time of the day, with safety.

In the middle of a small side street appeared two figures, their bodies disturbing the fog as they purposefully walked down the street, causing the mist to swirl up and briefly follow them before it reformed on road. The figures paused every so often to carefully peer down each alley and cross street, as if searching for someone or something, before continuing their late night stroll.

"Damn, this is spooky," said a young and incredibly muscular woman, to her taller, copper-haired, companion.

The woman appeared to be barely into her twenties, and aside from her amazing physique her most visible feature was a shock of snow-white in her otherwise long dirty-blond hair.

"You said it lover," replied the other, also very fit, young woman, as she wrinkled her pert nose in disgust at the odours assaulting it, "this is totally not natural weather."

"And for once, it's not our fault." Buffy paused, yawned, and stretched her arms over her head, causing her shirt to rise up and expose the tip of a red sword which appeared to be tattooed on her belly.

"Yeah, but still it is a bit weird for southern California," Willow said, before adding, "How much longer love, it's late and we need to get home and see to the kids?"

"Not much," said the slayer checking her watch, "just a couple of streets to go, then we can head back."

"Good," said Willow.

"Hold on for a sec, will you Will," asked Buffy, her enhanced senses perceiving something in the surrounding area.

"Yes love," replied Willow, turning back to face her companion, "what is it Buff?"

"My demon triggers are tingling," replied the slayer, all attention now focused on the surrounding area as she attempted to discover, and define, the threat that she had perceived. "There be things out there; several things."

_"What type of things_", asked Willow, as she focused her inner eyes, thereby adding all of her considerable paranormal abilities to the task of seeking non-human essences.

_"Don't know"_, replied Buffy, moving towards the edge of the sidewalk, _"but better to have a building to one side of us, just in case."_

"Better safe than sorry," agreed Willow, as she too moved to stand next to the building.

Both young women warily looked up and down the dimly lit street, looking for anyone, or anything, out of the ordinary. Neither woman was particularly worried, for they had faced armies of demons, but neither were they careless. They knew that one slip, one tiny mistake and that either one or both of them could be very dead.

Suddenly, both women turned and looked across the street at the entrance to a small, almost invisible, alley. Within moments three indistinct figures exited the passage and took up positions on either side of it, facing the young women. They paused, as if waiting for something, or someone, before beginning to leisurely cross the street. As they crossed they slowly moved apart, in an attempt to flank their intended prey.

_"What do you think Red"_, asked the slayer, moving to her right and towards the closet of her opponents.

_"Definitely not human"_, replied Willow, as she began to draw up from her reserves the energy she was about to employ in a spell, _"do you want me to fry them, or what?"_

_"Not just yet"_, replied Buffy, _"let's see what we're dealing with first. After all, they may not be evil."_

_"Ever the optimistic one, aren't you lover"_, replied Willow, changing her intended spell to one suggested by the slayer. The archmage concentrated for a moment, stretched out her hands and then whispered, almost to herself, "Soilshey ny greiney!"

As she finished the last word a basketball sized ball of blinding light appeared at her fingertips, dispelling the darkness from a huge area of the street.

Willow looked at the ball of deadly energy she had collected and then said, "Daunsagh!" The effect was immediate. The ball sprung from her fingers up into the air and began to move back and forth, almost rhythmically, between the two young women.

"Nifty spell lover," said Buffy, appraising the source of illumination.

"Thanks," said Willow, "at least now we know one thing about our 'friends' over there."

"And that is?"

"Well, they're not vamps. If they were, the light would have burned them to a crisp."

"Point," replied the slayer, turning her attention back to the three, now distinct figures, which had momentarily stopped their journey across the street. "Let's see what we do have then, shall we?"

Revealed by the bright ball of magic were three, definitely demon, beings. They were all the same type of creature, each sporting yellow skin, blue-green hair and jet black eyes. Their arms ended in claws, each with four pointed fingers. The sudden light had caused them to pause, shielding their eyes, halfway across the small street, no more than six meters from the young women.

"Well," drawled Buffy, "what do we have here then?"

"Looks like a trio of demon boys," replied Willow, "out on the town for a bit of relaxation."

The three demons were totally unprepared for these events. Until the street had been lit by the sudden ball of light they had planned to attack, and then feed on the two foolish humans who had wandered into their territory. The light, and the bantering tone of voice between the two women, had caused them to pause in the execution of their initial plan; however, it was only a pause, and they soon decided that the two humans were still easy prey, magic powers notwithstanding.

The nominal leader of the group stepped forward and called out, "foolish humans! You will die for being in our territory, and your bones will make soup for our young!"

"That solves the naughty or nice question," said Buffy as she sprung into action.

Buffy jumped at the demon on her right, balled her hand into a fist, before delivering a vicious backhand to his head just as she landed just in front of him. As the demon staggered under Buffy's blow she proceeded to sweep his legs out from under him, causing him demon to drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Before the first demon had hit the ground Buffy had already turned towards the leader of the group.

"You're next, ugly," snarled Buffy as she leaped towards the startled demon.

The remaining two demons had been stunned by the speed and the ferocity of Buffy's attack; however, they recovered quickly and began to spar forcefully with the slayer. This strategy proved to be their undoing, since it left Willow with plenty of time to complete her next spell.

Concentrating for a moment Willow reached deep within the magical realm for the energy she needed. She paused, calmed herself and then yelled, "Gleiy loshtee!"

With the completion of her spell a bolt of flame sprung from the palms of her hands towards the nearest demon; as it hit him it burst into sticky entrails that clung to the demon as they then began to burn through his clothes, attacking his flesh. The demon dropped to the ground screaming, all thoughts of killing the humans gone, and began to roll around, trying to put out the flames; however, nothing the demon tried diminished the flames; they stuck to his body, as if they had been glued there.

The flaming demon provided enough of a distraction so that Buffy could finish off the third opponent. As he turned to look at his companion, who was attempting to stop the flames ravaging his body, Buffy delivered an upper-roundhouse kick to his head, snapping his neck, killing him before he hit the ground.

Buffy quickly turned back towards her first opponent, however, seeing how easily the two humans had dispatched his former companions the demon had already fled, to disappear back into the thick fog.

"Damn," said Buffy, "missed one."

"S'ok love," replied Willow, as she came up behind her lover and embraced her in an intense hug, "two out of three in less than five minutes is still pretty good, even for us."

"I know," replied Buffy, "but I hate leaving one behind. Especially one that will almost certainly blab to others that we are patrolling this part of town now."

"They would have figured it out eventually," said Willow, as she turned Buffy to face her, before reaching down and kissing her passionately.

After a few minutes they broke apart and Buffy whispered, "What was that for?"

_"You know. After all our minds are one."_

_"I know, and thank-you. Shall we head home? Slaying makes me 'excited' too."_

"Let's," said Willow, "but first let me take care of the trash."

Willow concentrated, and then focused on the two demon bodies. As she released her focus the bodies immediately decomposed into their component elements, which were rapidly dispersed by what little wind there was and absorbed by the mists.

"Damn, witch girl," said Buffy appreciatively, "that still impresses the hell out of me."

The two women turned back the way they had come, and hand in hand began their walk home.

Deep in the shadows stood another, non-human, figure that had watched the preceding events with intense interest.

"So," she thought to herself, "the stories are true. The slayer has a powerful companion. And, what's more, that companion is also her soul mate. Interesting."

The demon turned away from the slayer and the arch-mage and with a swirl that could have been a cape, or could have been something else, began to move quickly in the opposite direction.

* * *

Within the hour Buffy and Willow arrived back at the new home that they were sharing with their family in addition to a large number of their friends. They had both moved out of their dorm room during the previous winter; the strain of motherhood, on top of their duties as guardians over the hell-mouth, had caused the two of them to suspend their studies for the conceivable future. These concerns were overlaid on other, more serious issues which had yet to be fully addressed by the archmage or the slayer.

Buffy, Willow, their daughters and their four companions had found, purchased and moved into a massive red bricked three story house which had been built in an elongated u shape on an east-west orientation. The house was close to both the centre of town, and to the suburb in which both Buffy and Willow had lived, and where their parents were still living. It was in an exclusive part of town, and several of the neighbours had asked unanswered questions as to exactly where the resources to purchase, renovate and maintain the house had come from.

The house was old, having been built at the turn of the century; however, it had been maintained in excellent condition. It comprised of over twenty rooms, more than enough for workrooms, bedrooms and nurseries. Thanks to the efforts of all of the new inhabitants, and their families, it had been decorated and renovated to meet the diverse needs of its new occupants. Buffy, Willow and their spouses Bridie and Aiofe, along with their four children and their ward Samantha, currently occupied the eastern wing of the house the house. The senior mages Amana and Grael had taken up residence in the other wing of the house; which was also the location of the new workrooms and an enormous library. The central portion of the house housed the 'public' rooms, the living and dining rooms, the public study and a massive kitchen / family room / eating area where the extended family did most of their socializing. The house, with the constant craftwork and slayer business, was never completely quiet; however, it was set back far from the street, surrounded by a tall fence, backed by hedges and other old growth and so the neighbours, while curious about exactly what the new inhabitants were up to, were never disturbed, neither was their curiosity satisfied.

As they were walking up the old slate path to the house Buffy turned to Willow and said, "Looks like there are still a few bodies up and about."

"They better not all still be up, Sam has school in the morning."

"I trust that Amana has made sure she was in bed at the proper time," said Buffy, "but I don't think that anyone else was."

"Their loss," said Willow, "I'm for the bath and bed as soon as possible, this heat and our little expedition has coated me in sweat."

"Ditto love," replied Buffy, "I only hope the kids cooperate."

Within the hour the two women were sharing a long relaxing soak in their massive bathtub, having fed and resettled their daughters.

"This was such a good idea," sighed Willow as she slipped into the steaming water.

"What," asked Buffy, "having a bath?"

"No, silly," replied Willow, "I meant renovating the house to include a proper bath."

The bath was more small pool than a bathtub. It had been built in the old summer kitchen, which had been at the back of the house. The bath was a metre and a half deep with a surface area of over twelve square meters. It had been tiled and had a ledge half way underwater that went around the perimeter, perfect for casual lounging. The bath was permanently filled with near scalding water that was constantly being refreshed and circulated.

The old kitchen had been further transformed to take advantage of the steam generated by the bath. Oak and maple panelling and benches had been installed along the walls, and there were several large storage cupboards for towels and other bath necessities.

Both women were relaxing in the bath, their heads cushioned on towels, and their legs floating out over the water. The hot water, combined with the hour was causing them to be both very relaxed and very lethargic.

"You know love," said Buffy, "I've been thinking."

"Dangerous," replied Willow, "I keep telling you that."

"I know, but."

"But what?"

"It's not the same anymore."

"What's not the same?"

"Life, slaying, you know – my reason for being."

"What do you mean," asked a suddenly concerned Willow, as she swung her legs back underneath her, and sat down.

"Oh, relax sweetie," said the slayer, "I'm not planning anything stupid. It's just that given all we went through things here have been quiet and..."

"And," prompted her lover.

"And, well boring."

"How can you say that," asked Willow, "don't you remember everything that's happened since we returned?"

Willow was referring to the roller coaster of events that had happened since she and Buffy had returned from their travels. It had been an eventful nine months.

It had begun with the numerous, seemingly endless, explanations the evening that they returned to family and friends. They had all wanted to know how Buffy and Willow could in the space of what looked like minutes have entered a dimensional portal alone, and returned with seven others, two of whom were badly injured. Not to mention that two of the people who returned with them were their daughters.

Their parents had been, to put it mildly, livid. There had been repeated demands to know what had happened, and how the girls could have been pregnant without them knowing. Their explanation that while minutes had passed on Earth that they had been away for a year did nothing to answer the parental questions. They demanded to know the names of the fathers and who they were, and were stunned to find out that there had been no 'fathers'. That one fact alone, along with the fact that somehow the two babies were identical in every way, finally convinced both Willow and Buffy's parents that something strange had happened to their daughters. With the typical Sunnydale mindset, they had then proceeded to act as if nothing unusual had happened at all.

Once they had convinced their parents that something extraordinary had occurred things were a little easier. Arrangements had been made to find medical assistance for the two injured members of Willow's group, fortunately when you lived over a hell-mouth; weird medical emergencies were a very frequent occurrence and were always discreetly and competently dealt with.

Over the next few days and weeks the complete story had been gradually told to family and friends. How Buffy and Willow had been transported to a different world, a world beset by demons, yet very similar to Earth. How Willow had come into her powers, and how Buffy had become both a warrior mage and avatar of the Goddess. That Willow had become a natural, if reluctant, leader, and how when she had nearly died from a traitor's attack Buffy had been able to miraculously cure her. How by the two women linking so closely together during the healing process had caused a near schizoid reaction in both of them, that when healed had resulted in the two of them becoming nearly one, and had also resulted in the two of them becoming pregnant.

Finally, they had recounted the events surrounding the savage demon attack on the human population with the goal of seeking total world dominance. The desperate escape of Willow's small group of humans to the mountains and to a place of relative safety. The growing realization during that flight that Aiofe and Bridie had become more than just friends, and how Willow had been able to 'father' their daughters. Finally, they had recounted the events surrounding the final battle with the demons. How Buffy's identical twin had been found, and how Buffy, and the other slayers, had fought off a demon army while Willow finished a spell, which closed the demon's source of power, and saved humanity on that world.

The stunned reaction by their family and friends to the events that had happened was nothing compared to the reaction about the true nature of the watcher's counsel had had on them. Willow and Buffy had learned that the counsel was in fact a demon front. They retold the story that the demon master had said, about how the demon leadership, which spanned multiple dimensions and worlds, had designed the counsel as a method to relegate demons to superstition and mythology in human folklore. They told their comrades that the counsel was primarily designed as a method to marginalize the slayers on a targeted world thereby removing the single most effective weapons against the planned conquest of the world.

Buffy's watcher Giles had been stunned by the information that Willow and Buffy had presented. He protested, argued and tried to find flaws in the news, but was finally convinced by the totality of Willow's arguments. Giles had immediately retired, without any explanation, from the counsel, feeling betrayed by his former colleagues. There had been another, darker, reason for his retirement. Buffy had also learned that the counsel had most likely tampered with her DNA while she had been in the womb, giving her some of the abilities that she used in fighting demons. Why the demon front would have enhanced the slayers abilities to fight their own kind was not certain, and Willow had decided that it was not worth pursuing just yet. Giles had accepted the fact that it was possible that others on the counsel may have been involved with Buffy's pre-natal development, but that he had had nothing to do with anything like that. Buffy and the others believed him, but he had decided that his former life was a lie, and was attempting to have nothing to do with any of it ever again. He had taken his savings and had opened a small shop in the tourist section of town.

The months following their return had been chaotic. First, there was the job of finding the house and renovating it to meet their needs. Then they had to find a school for Samantha, and fabricate a history for her so that unwelcome questions would not be asked.

They also realized that the demons on the Earth were still in contact with their trans-world leadership, and whatever plans they had for the Earth were still in progress. Willow, continuing in her leadership role, had decided that instead of confronting the counsel immediately that they would try to keep a low profile, while recruiting other slayers, gathering more information on the counsel and its activities and building up their strength.

There had also been the joy in the birth of Aiofe and Bridie's daughters, now six months old, and the process of educating the newcomers to the technology and differences of this world over the one that they had grown up on. In all it had been non-stop work for everyone, which had only recently begun to ebb.

"I remember," Said Buffy, "and I know that things have been busy, and eventful, but..."

"But?"

"It's just that. Just that, I didn't think that being a parent and a spouse was so much work."

"Huh?"

"Oh," sighed Buffy, "before it was easy. Slay, school and love you. No real worries other than the next test or the next vamp. Now there are bills and school for Sam and four demanding little girls who are growing like weeds, on top of patrolling and keeping on top of the hell-mouth. Then there's the planning for the future, the recruiting and worrying what the counsel is up to."

"Poor baby," said Willow, as she snuggled up next to her lover. "Let's see if I can think of a way to take your mind of off of things for a while."

"I think that I'm beyond hope," said Buffy, as she ran her fingers along her lover's belly, leaving long wet trails as she did so, "but if anyone can help, it would be you."

"Mmmm, that's nice," said Willow, "don't stop."

"Hey, wasn't I the one that was supposed to be getting the attention?"

"Things change."

Both women then began to pay serious attention to their lovemaking. Willow began by leaving a trail of wet kisses, which started at the slayer's neck and moved down, along her collarbone, between her breasts and then followed the sword tattoo until she reached Buffy's navel.

Buffy ran her fingers along the underside of Willow's breasts then began to make small circles around the nipple, before she took each nipple and rolled them between her thumb and forefinger.

Willow blew softly into her lover's navel, causing the small droplets of water that had collect there to fly up and bead on Buffy's taut, flushed, stomach. She then began to lick, almost lap, at the skin just above Buffy's neatly trimmed pubic hair, which resulted in the slayer arching her back in pleasure, and Willow receiving a mouthful of hot bath water.

"This won't due," said Willow, almost to herself, "I don't like breathing water."

Willow reached under her lover, and lifted her up, and out of the water. She then carried her over and deposited her gently on one of the benches along the wall of the room.

"My big strong witch girl," said Buffy, "you going to keep me safe?"

"Always."

Willow grabbed a small hand-towel and then began to pat-dry Buffy. She started with the slayer's toes and moved slowly, deliberately, up her muscled legs. She stopped at each blemish and scar, first drying, and then bending down to softly kiss each one before continuing. When she reached Buffy's knees, she softly moved her lover's legs apart, and then began to kiss and lick her way up the inside of Buffy's thighs.

"Oooo," sighed Buffy, "you are so good, you're bad."

"I know," replied Willow, with an impish grin, "but I've only just begun."

Willow reached her goal, and began to tenderly lick and kiss each labium in turn. Buffy began to squirm in pleasure as her clitoris became swollen, looking for attention, and release. Willow, with her intimate knowledge of her lover, and their shared link, knew exactly when to move to Buffy's centre. Just as it seemed that the slayer would implode Willow struck. Thrusting three of her fingers deep into Buffy's body, Willow simultaneously sucked in, and began to stimulate with her tongue, Buffy's love button.

Buffy exploded, with pyrotechnic flashes of light cascading in her mind, then, due to their shared link, Willow joined her lover in orgasm, both women nearly passing out due to the constant feedback of pleasure from each other.

After fifteen minutes of endorphin induced near catatonia Willow looked up at her lover and said, "Wow! Got to love our gift, half the effort, twice the effect."

After a long, drawn out moment, Buffy replied, "yep."

"Come slay girl," said Willow as she stood up on wobbly legs, "time for bed. The dawn is just around the corner, and we have lots to do tomorrow, rather today."

"That's right," said Buffy also standing on shaky legs, "it is Samhain."

The two lovers walked, arm in arm, half supporting and half being supported, to their room, to try to get some sleep before the chaos of year-end hit them.

* * *

Deep in the magical realm, which both joined and separated each world, a presence stirred.

Comprised of pure energy, it still had a definite feminine aura. It had been known to interact directly on occasion with the various beings on the material worlds, and when doing so had a preference of adopting a female guise.

She travelled, covering huge expanses of space and time with a mere thought, until she arrived at a nexus she had been working on for millennia.

"It's time," she thought to herself, "I wish that I could give them more time, but the great foe has begun to gather its lackeys."

Thinking for a moment, she then cast her awareness towards a specific reality, one that she had looked with favour upon before. "Good," she thought, "they have settled, and strengthened."

"Now let's see what support I can give them," she thought, "until I'm able to work more openly in the material realm."

* * *

In a neat, cookie-cutter, house deep in a suburb to the east of Sunnydale was gathered a group of people who had mayhem on their minds.

The group of twenty or so were seated in the basement on various decrepit sofas and chairs and were talking softly amongst themselves. All conversation ceased when their leader entered the room.

The tall, over six foot, vampire looked at the various people she had recruited over the last few weeks and wondered if they would be able to handle the job that she had been given.

Thinking, "too late to worry about that now," she turned to the group and said, "It's time. We strike on Friday night, two days from today where they won't be expecting it."

Her words caused a stir, and a growing sense of anticipation amongst the group, seeing that she continued, "You all know the plan. You all know where to be and what to do. Leave, now, and make sure that you do not contact each other until it is time to strike."

She turned and began to leave the room, just as she reached the door, she turned around and added, "oh, one other thing."

Her recruits looked up expectantly, "keep away from the slayer bitch, the mage and their little group of helpers," she said, and then smiled coldly before continuing, "I can't have any of you being disposed of before Friday."

* * *

The morning of October 31st dawned bright and clear. There was a strong wind off of the mountains, which promised some relief from the heat that had dominated the area for the previous week.

The house rose early, both Buffy and Willow up shortly after dawn, despite their late night; however, they were the last of the house to awake. They were entwined in the middle of their huge, double king-sized, bed there were two warm spots beside them, indicating that their spouses had just recently left the bed.

"I'll be so happy when they can feed themselves," groused Willow, as she woke to the cries of her daughters, and stumbled to the adjoining bathroom, "maybe then I'll be able to get some sleep."

"Yeah," agreed Buffy, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she joined her lover in the bathroom, "only seven or eight more years."

"Morning love," said Willow, as she leaned over kiss Buffy, "guess Aiofe and Bridie are already up."

"Morning," replied Buffy, "I guess. They are usually the early birds."

Both women finished their business in the bathroom and returned to their bedroom, to start dressing for the day.

"At least we get to bed at a relatively decent hour," said Aiofe, as she entered the room carrying two squirming little girls, "what time did the two of you get to bed?"

"No kidding," agreed Bridie, also entering with two little girls, "did you get even three hours sleep?"

"Meow," agreed Willow's familiar, Shadow-Cat, who had taken that opportunity to come back into the room, to take up her accustomed spot on a large overstuffed chair that faced the room's fireplace.

"Late, and no," said Buffy as she accepted her daughter from Aiofe and sat on another armchair so that she could feed her, "Patrol took longer than we thought."

"Not to mention the three baddies," said Willow, settling Kendra on the breast, "but I think that we are all going to have to have a nap this afternoon."

"Huh," asked Buffy, "why's that?"

"To rest up for tonight," said Willow, "the ritual doesn't start until nearly 10 or so, and will last at least two hours. If we don't rest up we're certain to make a mistake during the ritual, given the amount of sleep that we've not been getting."

Turning to Aiofe, Willow then continued, "What's left to do?"

"Not much," said the younger woman, sitting on the bed to feed her daughter, "just the last of the decorating, and the final touches to the work room."

"Shouldn't take more than an hour or so," added Bridie.

Soon the four babies had finished eating, and with satisfied sighs had detached, two of them immediately went back to sleep, the older two were having none of that – they were looking for attention from their parents.

"Ah, the joy of the very young," said Buffy, watching as Aiofe stood up to return the two sleeping girls to the nursery, "eat, sleep, eat again."

"Not like these two," agreed Willow, as she began an intense game of peek-a-boo with the two little girls that had taken up residence in the middle of the bed, "they want to be entertained."

"And mommies, are the best entertainers," said Bridie, joining Willow in the game.

The rest of the morning was spent in the routine of domesticity. Adults and children were bathed; Buffy and Willow's foster daughter Samantha was sent off to school, meals were prepared, physical training was completed and chores were done.

Soon it was mid-afternoon, time to finish the preparations for the evenings work.

Buffy and Willow were in the formal dining room, used only when guests were over since the family ate all of their meals in the huge kitchen, finishing setting the table for that evening's party.

Buffy turned to Willow and asked, "What's the agenda for tonight lover?"

"First we take Sam and the babies for a quick trick-or-treat run," replied Willow, busy arranging the last of the flowers that were to be used as part of the table centrepiece.

"I must admit," said Buffy, "that I'm looking forward to that, since they are going to be very cute."

"Amana did a wonderful job," agreed Willow, "turning them into little ladybugs."

"And Grael and Xander converted the strollers into perfect leaves, for our bugs to sit on."

"And, with a massive tongue in cheek, Sam is just perfect as a little witch."

"She didn't have to go far to get her accessories," agreed Buffy, "so, after the candy run, then what?"

"By then, the rest of the group should be here, and we will have dinner," said Willow. "That will take us to nine or so, leaving enough time for the ritual baths and getting ready for the ceremony to begin at ten or so."

"Well then," said Buffy, "why don't we finish up here, then head out to get the last of what we need. What we can't find at the mall, Giles should have."

"Good idea lover," said Willow.

"Then, once we get back," continued the slayer, "we should have enough time to have a nap with the kids, before we need to get them, and ourselves dressed."

_"I just love it when you are in plan mode"_, said Willow.

_"Well"_, replied Buffy, _"with you almost always in leader mode, sometimes I just have to be the dominant one."_

_"Promises, promises."_

_"I always deliver"_, replied Buffy, with a wicked mental grin as she gently ran her fingernails along Willow's arm.

"Let's go see if Amana needs anything else for dinner," said Willow, as she headed to the pantry, which joined the kitchen with the dining room, "before this degenerates into something that will not allow us to accomplish anything today."

"Party-pooper," replied her lover, a false pout on her face.

* * *

The house was still active much later that evening. Intricately carved jack-o-lanterns lined the walkways, the fence and were in every window. Other seasonal decorations festooned both the exterior and inside of the house, which had been a very popular stop earlier that evening, the neighbours using the festivities as a legitimate excuse for a closer look at the house and its new inhabitants. Amana and Grael, who had volunteered for door duty, had met and chatted with most of the neighbours, and had left more than favourable impressions in their minds.

Willow and her team were now gathered deep within the house. The doors and windows had all been shut tight, and the house had been magically sealed, offering greater protection than mere mechanical locks could. It was time to begin the serious work of the night.

Willow had converted part of the old basement into a massive circular work area. The old floor had been removed, the earth beneath had then been covered with an intricate mosaic of slate, oak, maple and other wood, most of it rare or unique. All man-made lighting had been removed from the area, along with all electrical wiring.

Notwithstanding the lack of 'modern' sources of illumination, the area was brightly lit by several lanterns that were adding their light to the four massive freestanding candelabras that were located at the cardinal positions.

As had been done in her previous workroom, one area had been converted to a study area for Willow, complete with her desk from home and a comfortable easy chair. Willow entered the room, and sat down with a soft sigh, worrying, as was her habit, about the work to be done.

Willow looked around at the thirty or so friends and family, who were busy with the final preparations for the evening, and reflected on other changes that had occurred over the last few months. Specifically she was thinking about the change in her working group, all frivolity was gone, and everyone who now worked with Willow was focused and dedicated to the tasks at hand. She had, not without some protests, also changed the structure and way in which she conducted rituals; the biggest of those changes was about to be tested for the first time, on this world.

Some of the people were friends from her earlier circle others were new to the group. In addition, all of her family, both adults and children were present. Willow looked at the diverse group thinking, "what a motley crew we make," as she reflected on the variety of ages, experiences and skills that the group composed. Willow felt a slight pressure on her thoughts, and she realized that her familiar Shadow-Cat was trying to communicate. She relaxed and looked through the cat's eyes, realizing that she had been shut out of the basement. Willow concentrated, and then with a thought caused the basement door to open, to allow the cat to enter; Willow then closed the door behind the cat, who moved to take her accustomed spot on the archmage's lap.

_"Taking a deep breath she thought, ready to go lover?"_

_"You bet. Don't worry, you'll be fine."_

_"Always one thought ahead, aren't you?"_

_"That's why you love me."_

_"Not the only reason."_

Willow turned to the group and said, "It's time."

Everyone immediately turned and joined their leader, some sitting on the floor, others standing in a loose semi-circle in front of her.

Willow waited until they were settled before continuing, "blessed be."

"Blessed be," replied all of her companions.

"We are gathered at this time and this place to celebrate the birth of the year," said Willow, beginning the ritual introduction to the evenings work.

She went on to explain to the group how this celebration marked the end of one year, and the beginning of the next and how they would be spending some of their time that evening helping the souls of those who had died in the previous year find their way to the Summerland, where they would rest before being reborn.

Willow then continued to outline what they would be doing, more to confirm in her own mind that she hadn't forgotten anything since her group had been practicing for this ritual for the last month. She indicated that since this was one of the lunar quarters, and therefore one that was dedicated to the Goddess, that they would be looking for support and assistance from her. Finally, she came to the major change for the ritual. Breaking with 'tradition' she was going to combine their work that night with an opportunity to search the magical realm for signs of demon tampering.

Willow stood and said, "Ok folks, places."

Everyone took their places within the circle that had been permanently inscribed on the floor of the work area. One of the biggest changes that Willow had introduced was in the way she organized her group. Drawing upon her experience on the other earth she relied less upon male / female balancing, instead she balanced the circle based on ability, experience and working familiarity. Her choice of a ritual partner reflected this, and had been one of the hardest things for her former circle to come to grip with; and it had lead to several of them leaving, crying sacrilege. Willow worked with one of her spouses, tonight she was working with Aiofe; Bridie and Buffy would partner to the east. Amana and Grael were in the west, Xander and Anya in the north with Giles and his partner Susan to the south. The sixteen other members of Willow's group took up their places between the cardinal points, they were the newer members and their primary job would be to provide energy and support to Willow and Aiofe.

Everyone was in their ritual robes, each tied with brightly coloured silk ropes. Some of the ropes were made up of one colour, others two, Willow having made the decision to test each member of her coven to see which element or elements they had an affinity for. However, Willow was the only one with a pure white rope, signifying her unprecedented abilities as an archmage.

Willow began the evening's work by casting the triple circle, the raising of the protective sphere, followed by the invocations to the Guardians. As she was calling them, the Guardians manifested themselves just outside of the circle.

"This is a first," thought Willow, "at least on this world."

"I hope this doesn't mean trouble," thought Aiofe, unknowingly echoing Willow's thoughts.

The rest of the circle, other than the ones who had been on the alternative earth with Willow, was stunned by the visible presence of the Goddess's earthly protectors. They had all been told that this had occurred to Willow before, but knowing and seeing often provoke different responses.

"It's ok everyone," said Willow reassuringly, "they are here to help, just like always. It's just that it looks like they are just a little bit more here tonight."

The next part of the ceremony went without any problems, or any additional surprises, as Willow and Aiofe prepared the circle for the major work of the evening.

After leading everyone through their meditation and breathing exercises, Willow turned to them and said, "Now is the time."

"Now is the time," replied the assembled witches.

"Now, we gather to pay respects, and to aid the departed.

"We gather to respect and aid.

"We ask for safe passage, and speedy return.

"We ask for safe passage and return.

Willow continued the litany, asking the Gods for their assistance in speeding the passage of all those who had died in the previous year through the void to the Summerland, where they would wait for re-birth. Once they had completed their litany, Aiofe went to the south edge of the circle while Willow took up her station at the north. They paused preparing themselves for the next part of the ritual.

Simultaneously the two high-priestesses concentrated and then using the power of their minds as a focus opened two gates in the protective circle. The other members of the circle then started a multi-part chant, which was designed to call forth the departed souls and help them on their passage.

As her companions began their song Willow looked deep into the magical void, seeking the Summerland. Finding it, she then created a magical corridor between it and the Earth, which would allow the safe passage of the departed.

Willow, her body taut with concentration, returned her awareness to the material world and kept a mental count. When she had reached one hundred slow breaths she looked across the circle at Aiofe and nodded. Both women then relaxed their concentration and allowed the gates to close.

Returning to the centre of the circle Willow then said, "It is done. Our task, our duty, has been completed.

"Now is the time to celebrate the birth of the year, to thank the Gods for the bounty of the last year, and to ask them to watch over us during the next."

At those words the guardians, who had remained visible outside of the circle, flared and began to pulsate.

'What the', thought Willow, _"Buff, any ideas?"_

_"Nope love. Last time this happened was when I had my little 'conversation'."_

"Ok folks," said Willow, "let's remain calm, and we will deal with whatever happens."

As it turned out, nothing untoward happened for the remainder of the ritual, and as they neared the end of their night's work, Willow let out a sigh, and said, "Well folks, I know we are all exhausted, and are looking forward to our beds, but we have just a little more work to do."

Willow then asked Buffy and Bridie to join them in the centre of the circle. Amana moved over to cover their spot in the east once they had left.

Willow embraced her lover and said, "keep an eye on me, ok?"

"Always."

Willow lay down on the floor, the other three witched circling her, and holding hands.

She said, "Ok folks. I'm going to search to see if our 'friends' have been busy. Aiofe and the others here are going to keep an eye on me, so that I can come back; I need the rest of you to keep the circle focused and intact until I get back."

Willow concentrated, and began a series of deep breathing exercises. Once she had excluded all outside sources of distraction she translated her awareness completely into the magical realm, trusting her spouses to be able to bring her home.

For nearly twenty minutes Willow searched the various pathways and nodes of the realm, which surrounded the Earth. She looked for obvious signs of tampering. Aside from the obvious activity around the various hell mouths, she saw nothing untoward. This both reassured and bothered her.

Thinking, "Maybe they aren't ready yet," she translated back to the material realm and slowly sat up, the exhaustion evident on her face. Willow turned to her spouses and mouthed, "Nothing," before slowly getting to her feet.

She turned to the circle and said, "I could see no sign of meddling; however, that does not mean we can be less vigilant. It just means that they may not be active in the magical realm, only the material."

"Now," continued Willow, "let's wrap up for the evening."

Willow and Aiofe then led the group in the closing prayers, and just before they finished their work Willow turned to each of the guardians, bowed low, and said, "thank you for your attendance. We take note, and are grateful." As she said the words each guardian disappeared.

"Well," said Giles, as he and Susan grabbed their coats, "is there ever going to be a non-event filled ritual?"

"Don't think so," said Willow, as she scooped up her daughter from the bassinet where she and the other three had spent the evening, "but it was mostly a light show tonight, no pyrotechnics."

"But," added Grael, "their visible presence here tonight does mean something; it's just that we don't know what yet."

"Great," said Willow, "just freaking great. What now?"

"Whatever it is," said Buffy, scooping up her lover in her arms, baby and all, "can wait until we get some sleep and some food; not necessarily in that order."

"No kidding," agreed Bridie, as she and Aiofe headed upstairs with a very sleepy Samantha, and three sleeping little girls.

"But," pleaded Willow, wiggling in Buffy's arms and finding the experience very enjoyable.

"No buts lover," replied Buffy, "this time our glorious leader is going to follow instructions and get some rest before we try to figure out what is going on. After all, its not like demons are overrunning the town now is it?"

"No, not tonight at least," said Willow, burrowing her head in Buffy's neck, "I just hate not knowing."

"No kidding," said Amana and Grael, as they followed the younger women upstairs.

Back in the workroom Giles looked around, to check that all of the flammables had been extinguished, before heading up the stairs. Just as he was half way up, he suddenly turned back and peered into the gloom. Seeing nothing he thought, "Must be one of the cats," as turned back and finished climbing the stairs.

* * *

Nearly 9,000km to the east a young man was sitting in his darkened living room draining the last drops from the second bottle he had consumed that evening as he watched the rays from the morning sun streak through his windows. With a small belch, resulting in a cloud of steam rising from his ears, he sat up thinking to himself that he needed to get some semblance of sleep and stumbled towards his bedroom. As he entered the room he lazily waved his hand to close the drapes which framed the windows across the room.

"Thanks to Merlin I remembered to book the day off," he whispered as he threw himself down on the bed, without turning it down, or removing his clothes.

As he lay there ghosts, whether real or imaginary, began to pass by his bed. The inebriated young wizard acknowledged each with a wave or a casual comment.

"Hi Mom, Dad," he whispered, "Sorry I can't be better company.

"Sirius, I know it wasn't my fault, but it doesn't change the fact that you are dead.

"Hi Cedric, hope you are doing better.

"Susan, long time – no see.

"Dumbledore, looks like the 'greater good' caused a lot of good people to die, now didn't it?"

Each of these ghost passed by without uttering a sound.

After a few minutes, darker shades began to pass by, each twisted in pain as if some agent was causing them eternal torment.

"Snape, are you enjoying your torments? Payback for all those years you abused me and others must be a bitch.

"Pettigrew, you are a despicable traitor. Still, you did provide some amusement there at the end."

Just before he passed into oblivion one final shade passed before him.

"Voldemort, I wish it was nice to see you, but that would be a lie, now wouldn't it?" The ghost gave a small nod in acknowledgement to that sentiment.

"Still, I did get to finish you off, wish it had made a difference to my nightmares though."

With that the ghost paused for a moment, and with great effort pushed by his torments to whisper, "don't think for a moment that your work is done."

With that revelation the young man passed out.

* * *

It was late morning on the Saturday following Samhain and Willow had still not been able to figure out just what had happened that night. She had discussed that night's events in detail with Amana, Grael and Giles, but none of her mentors had any additional insight into what was happening, or what might happen in the future.

Giles finished his eighth cup of tea, looked around at Willow and the five other people, which formed her so called 'war council' and said," It's going to be one of those things that we have to have patience for."

Seeing the look of protest growing in both Willow and Buffy's faces he continued, "I know, patience isn't either of your strong points, but, we just don't have enough data to go on, or to make any type of informed decisions."

"Mom," said Sam entering the room.

"Yes," said Buffy.

"I think you should see this."

"See what?

"The news on the TV thing."

* * *

A/N – Here we go folks, hope that you all enjoy. Please review if you have the time.


	2. Aut Vincere Aut Mori

Disclaimers:

Buffy, Willow and all of the other characters and places from the show are © to Joss Whedon, UPN and Mutant Enemy etal. Harry, Hermione and the other characters and places from Harry Potter are © to JK Rowling – I am just playing in their sandboxes. Everyone and everything else is mine. None of my characters are meant to resemble anyone living, dead or un-dead, if you see yourself you are looking way too hard.

Please note that things perceived by characters other than by the five acknowledged senses have been enclosed in _Italics._

Feedback:

Please. And thanks to all who have commented on previous efforts, I appreciate everything that was said. As before, all meaningful criticism, support and suggestions are welcome.

General notes etc are on my profile page

* * *

**Chapter II – A****ut Vincere Aut Mori**

**(Either conquer or die)**

* * *

_(Saturday November 4__th__ 2000, 23:45GMT, 18:45EST, 15:45PST)_

It was an incomprehensible event. The death total was estimated in the thousands, and those estimates were rising with each hour that passed by. The TV news shows CNN, FOX and the networks were filled with talking heads, each trying to make sense of what was turning out to be the most horrific act of terrorism in history. The seven adults sat mesmerized in their family room watching the events unfold, helpless to do more than pray to the Goddess for the souls of those who had had their lives tragically ended. They had been sitting watching the news for the past six hours, since being summoned by Samantha earlier that morning. They had only left to tend to personal needs, and to care for their babies.

"Why?" the archmage asked, not for the first time, "and more importantly, who?"

"They don't know love," Buffy replied, "but they think it might be that group in the Middle East, al-Qaeda, or maybe some other whacko group."

Bridie asked, "Who are these people Willow, who would treat life so callously?"

"Radical Islamic group, based in Afghanistan," Giles replied, "although I understand that they have ties and members everywhere – weren't they the ones who attacked that US Navy ship last month?"

"If it is them, it looks like they have moved up," Willow added, still not able to pull her eyes away from the TV.

_"You ok, lover?"_

_"Yep, just sickened at the loss of innocent lives."_

"This is a tragedy, that is certain," Amana added, "can we be certain that others are not involved?"

"Shush now," Willow interrupted, "it's the top of the hour, maybe there will be some new updates."

Buffy leaned over to turn up the volume on the TV, just in time to hear the introduction to the top news story.

"We now go back to Atlanta and Susan Richards for our top story.

"Thank you Peter," replied the young perky lead anchor, who had managed to maintain her perfect appearance despite having been on-air for nearly eight hours.

Turning to the camera she continued, "Earlier today, at approximately ten am eastern, a total of twenty-four passenger airliners were hijacked almost simultaneously. After they had been commandeered by an unknown number of hijackers they were flown out over the oceans and deliberately crashed.

"At this time we are still waiting for confirmation on the number of fatalities, however, it has been estimated that there have been in excess of five thousand victims of what is now the worst act of international terrorism in history.

"We have been told that the plains originated from five different airports; Miami International, New-York's JFK, Los Angeles International, Dulles in Washington and Portland International in Oregon.

"At this time no group has publicly taken responsibility for this atrocity.

"Reaction from around the world has been swift, with messages of condolence poring in from world political and religious leaders.

"Immediately upon the scale of this tragedy becoming apparent the FAA and the Canadian Transportation Agency grounded all civilian air travel in both Canada and the United States, with all aircraft in the air required to land immediately at the nearest airport. International inbound flights to North America, which could not be returned to their point of origin, were escorted by NORAD fighters to airports in British Columbia in the west and in Newfoundland and New Brunswick in the east. International outbound flights were allowed to continue to their destinations, however, most of them were also escorted for the remainder of their flights by military fighter jets.

"It is not known at this time when authorities will allow for commercial air travel to recommence.

"This shutdown of air travel has caused wide-spread chaos at airports and has resulted in major disruptions to both the long-distance and cellular telephone networks as people try to connect with their families and loved ones. Once again authorities in both Canada and here at home are asking everyone to refrain from using the telephone networks at this time. We have been assured that passenger lists and locations of diverted flights will be made available as soon as possible. Once we here at CNN have received that information we will broadcast it immediately and we will also post it on our web-site CNN dot com.

"We go now to Paul Engels in Washington for an update on the reaction from the White House."

"Thank-you Susan," Paul Engels replied.

"It is a dark day in our history, one without precedent. Immediately upon being informed of the tragedy President Clinton was taken by members of the Secret Service to Air Force One, which left Washington airspace to points unknown. It is not known when or where President Clinton will land, however, he did brief the media just before leaving and expressed his shock and dismay at the scope of the tragedy adding that his prayers, and the prayers of all Americans, were with the families of those who lost loved ones today.

"Vice-President Al Gore, on the campaign trail in Florida, was immediately escorted by his Secret Service detail to Air Force Two and returned to Washington. He was taken to the White House situation room where we are told he is in constant communication with the President and is acting as his ground liaison for the duration of this emergency.

"We have been advised that the President has been in contact with not only the Canadian Prime Minster, but also Prime Minister Blair in Great Britain and several other NATO leaders.

"Military forces in both Canada and the United States have been placed on high alert and we have been informed that release authority command has been granted to NORAD's commanding officer. In Europe and elsewhere US forces have been placed on heightened alert status and NATO forces have also been mobilized.

"However, other than this horrific act of terrorism here there have been no other incidents reported.

"We continue to receive unconfirmed reports that there was at least one additional aircraft which had an attempted hijacking. These reports go on to indicate that the attempt was stopped by members of the public who subdued the hijacker or hijackers allowing the plane to return safely to its point of origin. We will continue to track this story and will attempt to obtain further clarification and confirmation.

"This is Paul Engels in Washington; now back to you Susan in Atlanta."

Willow reached over to the TV and turned the volume back down, "nothing new then," she said, "sorry for interrupting you Amana, but…"

"It's ok, I understand," the older woman replied, "even with all you have seen, and done, something like this is still impossible to understand."

"But to go back to your question, I don't know if anyone or thing that we are concerned about is involved. However, I can not discount the coincidence factor all that easily."

"We will just have to get as much information as possible," Grael added, "maybe do some scrying for answers, and try to determine if this tragedy has been influenced by factors beyond those here on this Earth."

"Ok then," Willow said rising from the sofa, "let's get back to some semblance of normality. We have dinner to make, children to tend to and work to do."

Willow gathered up her family and shooed them back towards their kitchen saying, "Giles, you do need to get back to Susan and reassure her, not to mention make some decisions on the store. If you think it would help, bring her back here, we certainly have the room."

"Buffy," she continued, turning to her lover, "you need to think about your patrols tonight. After something this horrific the demons are going to feel emboldened and will be out strutting their stuff. Perhaps you should look to taking a few of the slayer potentials out with you, sort of on-the-job training."

"Ok boss lady," the slayer replied, "I'll beef-up my patrol area and bring along Pam and Beth; they are the most ready of the potentials. I will probably stick close to known haunts and tour the graveyards."

"Amana, Grael," Willow continued, turning to the two older mages, "one of you two should keep an eye on the TV and the other should go out to the store and get whatever newspapers you can find. I will hide in my office and begin to surf the net – try to see if there is any news on the less than traditional sites."

"Finally, Bridie Aiofe I would like you two to take care of dinner and getting the children settled."

With that the various members of the household went off to tackle their tasks.

* * *

_(Sunday November 5__th__ 2000, 00:15GMT__, 19:15EST(4th), 16:15PST(4th))_

In Washington a series of tense meetings were continuing in the White House situation room. Present were various members of the cabinet, the military and the various domestic and international intelligence gathering agencies. The President, via satellite phone link-up from Air Force One, was trying to make sense of the tragedy that had struck the country and to formulate a coherent action plan which he could present to the nation and the world. The country had been running almost on automatic pilot until this point, following long established emergency management measures; it was now time to begin to bring some order out of the apparent chaos.

The room was a study in quiet concentration; however, beneath that appearance it was obvious that people were going about their tasks in a stunned shamble, moving more on training and instinct than with purpose. The various workstations and the main briefing table were covered with reports and half consumed cups of coffee. The room had been fully staffed since shortly before eleven am, nearly nine hours earlier, as the scope of the event had begun to take horrific shape in official Washington. The initial week-end watch officers, who had been managing the room on a skeleton staff, had all been replaced by their senior complement, along with an additional full complement of watch staff being called in for support purposes, as the various agencies and departments of government slowly shook off their week-end lethargy and began to get up to speed as quickly as possible in order to find the answers their political masters had been demanding.

Gathered around the main briefing table were the Vice-President, the National Security Advisor, the Director of the CIA and other senior members of the military and intelligence gathering organs of the government. They had been briefing the President on the latest developments, concentrating on the domestic situation as the country ground to a halt with the cessation of air travel. With the completion of that discussion they moved to review the discussion on whom, or which group, could be responsible for the atrocity.

"If I can just sum up for the moment our current understanding," the President said over the speaker phone, "We do not have any credible claims of responsibility at this time."

"That is correct Mr. President," his National Security Advisor replied, "we have had the usual collection of fringe groups all claiming responsibility, but no one yet who we feel are capable of carrying out something of this complexity."

"What about al-Qaeda," the chairman of the joint-chiefs of staff asked, "they certainly seem to have the ability to whip-up the religious zeal to get over twenty people to commit and act of suicide terrorism?"

"Nothing from any of our sources," the Director of the CIA replied, "in fact, just last week we were projecting that they would be scaling back operations after the Cole incident."

The Director of the FBI then asked, "Could one of their cells have gone rogue; not that we have picked up on anything here at home mind, but could there have been deep sleeper cells operating beyond the control of the al-Qaeda leadership?"

"Possible," the National Security Advisor said, "but we just do not have enough information at this time to be able to pin this on them."

"Ok," interjected the President, "let's leave discussions on who is responsible for the moment, I tend to believe that it has to be either al-Qaeda, or a splinter group from them, but I am willing to hold off going public on that until we have more information. Now, what about the plane where the hijacking was stopped, what information have we been able to get from the crew and passengers, or the hijacker for that matter?"

"I will take the lead on that Mr. President," the Director of the FBI answered, "the flight in question originated from LAX, Continental sixty-three thirty departing six forty-five local for Tokyo. From our initial interviews with the passengers and crew we have learned that there was apparently only one hijacker, and that he was located in first class. As soon as the plane levelled out after takeoff he was seen talking to the stewardess, who was then seen to be arguing with the passenger. He persisted in trying to carry on the conversation, at which point she asked for help, saying that the passenger was behaving erratically and threatening the flight. After a brief struggle he was subdued by fellow passengers, the captain then declared an in-flight emergency and asked for immediate clearance for return to LAX."

As the Director was speaking one man, sitting almost un-noticed at the back of the room, came to an uncomfortable conclusion. Standing up he moved to the front of the table, where the Vice-President and the senior advisors were sitting, and said, "excuse me, Mr. President, it is Director Jenkens, I may have some additional information which is pertinent to the situation."

"Yes Director," replied the President, "what is it?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. President, but this falls under a 'lollypop' code word situation."

The director was referring to a level of security which had its existence hidden with a code word which changed daily. This was a level of secrecy which concealed things which by there very nature and importance to the Nation were too sensitive for even those with the highest of clearance to know about. These secrets were held by a limited number of those with special clearance; in this instance less than ten.

At the words of the Director several people including the Vice-President looked up startled, while the majority of the room's occupants merely looked puzzled, both at the code word used, and at the reactions to it.

After a brief pause the President replied, "clear the room, unless you are Sigma cleared."

With those orders everyone except the Vice-President, the National Security Advisor, the Directors of the FBI and CIA and the Chairman of the joint chiefs left the room.

"Are we clear," asked the President.

"Yes sir," his Vice-President replied, "only Sigma members are left in the room."

"Shut down the monitoring equipment then and let's hear what Mr. Jenkens has to tell us." The National Security Advisor, on those instructions, pushed a button which stopped all forms of electronic monitoring in the room.

The Director took a seat near the end of the table and began, "Well, Mr. President, it looks like these hijackers may have been rogue members of the wizarding world."

* * *

_(S__unday November 5__th__ 2000, 08:10GMT, 03:10EST, 00:10PST)_

Early the next morning in London two people entered an upscale condominium apartment in the heart of Kensington. The shorter bushy-haired member of the duo used a security card to gain entrance to the building. Swiftly crossing the lobby they entered one specific lift and, after again using the security card, selected the top floor. The lift doors immediately closed and the duo began their ascent up to the tenth floor.

"I still do not understand why he lives here," the taller, red-haired man, complained "I mean he has loads of homes – some even out of the country, all in our world, why doesn't he live in one of them?"

"Honestly Ron," the young woman replied, "we have been over this countless times. Harry still does not feel welcomed or comfortable living with wizards. He still has trust and betrayal issues to deal with. After all, it's not like he the only wizard to live in the normal world, I do, for example."

"But Hermione," complained Ron, "He lives completely like a muggle; he even works in the muggle world, why? Besides, you came from the muggle world, it can be explained why you live like one."

"Just accept it Ron," Hermione said, looking up to the floor indicator lights to see how far they had progressed.

"I will if I have to, but I don't think I will ever like it, it's almost like he is deliberately insulting all wizards by the way he lives," Ron said, then changing the subject he continued, "now, are you going to let me know why we are here just after eight on a Sunday morning, not to mention why you interrupted my going to breakfast."

"I will tell both of you at the same time," Hermione replied, "but I will let you know that this will involve Harry more than you."

"Bloody marvellous," Ron said, as he crossed his arms defensively over his chest, "what has he got himself up to now? He ignores our world, and they still want him to help them with a problem?"

"Honestly Ron, he has not got himself up to anything. You would think that after nearly ten years as his friend you could control your jealous impulses for just a minute until your brain started to work."

"I know, I know, I know," intoned Ron, "but at least I do get over it pretty quickly now."

"True, but you do know your irrational jealousy is one of the major reasons why were never able to make a go of it?"

"Yes, I know that, but I have been able to accept that for the most part and move on. What I still have difficulty with is why Harry can't move on from his issues."

"He has his reasons," Hermione replied, "and if I remember correctly..."

"Which you always do."

"He has told you those reasons on several occasions," continued Hermione, as she exited the lift into an elegant foyer with only one door facing the lift.

"That he has," Ron replied.

The young woman grasped the lion-headed brass door-knocker lifting it high above the door and allowed it to drop. "Also, don't forget that some of his trust issues are due to members of your family, present company not totally excluded."

"It has been over two years now Hermione," said Ron, "at some point does he not have to learn to live with what happened?"

"Not if I can help it," the dark-haired young man replied as he opened his door to greet his long-time friends.

"Morning Harry," Hermione quipped, with a slightly false sense of chipper in her voice, "get much sleep?" The young woman gave Harry a swift peck on the cheek and then proceeded to move past him to enter the flat.

"Morning Mi," Harry replied with a bemused look briefly crossing his face, "yes, I did and you?"

"Not really Harry. I was up most of the night trying to keep up with the news from the US."

Ron asked, "What news?" as he too entered the flat, "Oy, mate, do you anything to eat? I was callously interrupted from getting anything to eat earlier."

"There is some leftover take-away Chinese in the fridge," Harry replied as he closed the door to his flat, "it's been there since Wednesday though."

"That's ok mate," said Ron as he crossed into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, "as long as it has no fur it is ok with me."

Harry asked, "Well Mi, while our erstwhile friend risks botulism, care to let me know why you have descended on my home on such a pleasant Sunday morning, with the sun brightly shining and the birds singing?" as he entered the living room and watched his long-time friend pace back and forth across his floor to ceiling wall to wall windows. "After all, it is not as if we didn't have lunch yesterday."

"Well," began Hermione as she paused in her pacing to turn to Harry, "did you happen to listen to the mundane news yesterday?"

"Only the football scores, why?"

"And I know you rarely, if ever check newspapers or the internet," Hermione continued, absently processing his words as she continued to pace, working out how she was going to raise her news; finally she decided to just blurt out the information "well, yesterday afternoon, about 3pm or so, terrorists hijacked twenty-four passenger airliners in the United States and then deliberately crashed them into the ocean."

"Gods above," Harry exclaimed as he collapsed into a chair. "What, who, why?"

"Those are the questions," Hermione replied as she sat on the sofa. "No one knows any of the answers to those questions right now. What we do know is that the mundane world has been thrown into chaos."

Ron questioned, "What about the muggles," as he entered the living room and took up a seat on the other end of the sofa from Hermione, "and why does something that happened to some muggles have your knickers in a twist?"

"Ron, you're an insensitive git," Harry replied, "in case you have forgotten Hermione's parents aren't wizards."

"I know they are not wizards Harry," the red haired young man said, "but I still want don't understand why this is important for us."

"Fortunately I do know that," Hermione replied.

"Well, do tell," Harry asked, "I trust that it is probably something to do with what you do all day down there with the rest of the members of the unspeakable department?"

"That it does, Harry," Hermione answered, "but not only my department, just about everyone at the ministry is concerned, right from Minister Bones on down."

"Why is that," Ron asked, "how does this affect wizards?"

Hermione replied, "Well, not to put too fine a point on it Ron; but the reason that it is causing concern amongst all of the department heads is that for the first time in over two hundred years the mundane Prime Minister is invoking his authority and compelling Minister Bones and her staff to provide answers and insight into what may be happening in the greater world."

"What?" Ron exclaimed, "How can that be? How can we let muggles tell us what to do?"

"If you remember your history Ron," Harry answered, "you will know that for all of our so-called independence our Minister technically serves at the pleasure of the Queen and is governed by her through her Prime Minister."

"Quite correct, Harry," added Hermione, pleased that her friend was able to answer so easily, "in fact, for all that we are wizards and have chosen to remain hidden from the majority of the mundane world, we are all still citizens of Great Britain and still have a civic duty to aid our government when asked."

"Ok, but why now, after all these years," Ron asked, "what is so special that they have come to us?"

"Well, first off, it was the Americans who asked the Prime Minister for help. From what I was told by Mr. Croaker the American Government, which is much more integrated with their magical community than we are, asked the Prime Minister for help to determine what happened and who may be responsible for the tragedy.

"I was called into work late last night, just before one in the morning, since my boss knows that I'm a first-born witch and therefore have extensive knowledge of the non-magical world. The Minister and some of the directors wanted some additional information about what was going on and why the non-magical world was so concerned. As part of those briefings I was told that the American President had stressed to Prime Minister Blair that he was to use 'all' resources available to him." Hermione leaped up from the sofa and stood in front of the windows, peering out at the city below. On the street below she could see people moving about on their business; in the distance she could see the Imperial College and the Albert memorial with Sunday strollers just beginning to enter the park to take advantage of the fall sunshine.

Turning back to Harry she continued, "From that I gathered the PM has decided those resources include the magical world."

"Ok, I understand why the wizarding world is involved," Harry said, "but why are you involved, and why are you here?"

"Not so much me love," Hermione answered, "but rather you. I was asked specifically by Mr. Croaker to come collect you and bring you by the Ministry for a special briefing. He knew that you have chosen to not live in the magical world and that with the collection of wards you have put on this building it would be impossible for anyone but me or Ron to get to you quickly.

"So, after finishing the meetings an hour or so ago I went home, grabbed a quick shower, change of clothes and a bite to eat, then went looking for you."

"Ok," replied the slightly confused wizard, "that answers my questions, but raises a bunch more."

"Such as," asked Ron.

"Such as why me?"

His tall friend replied, "Other than the fact you are the boy-who-lived, savior of the wizarding world, defeater of dark lords and most dangerous wizard alive?"

"Not to mention, tall, dark, good looking and devilishly handsome," Hermione added, quite unhelpfully.

"Yes," scowled Harry, "aside from all that?"

"Don't know," Hermione answered, "you will just have to find out when they tell you."

"And did they ask for Ron also?"

"Nope, found him outside the Leaky Cauldron and dragged him along. I figured that he would need to be told what was going on eventually, and it would be better if he got it without any distortions."

"True enough Mi," Harry said, "well then, shall we go and see what they have in store now for the butt-monkey of the wizarding world? After all I assume that they wanted to see me as soon as possible, or sooner; no real concern for my thoughts on the matter, or that I have practically self-exiled myself from their world and intrigues?"

"Harry, you know that it's not all like that."

"No Mi, not always, just most times."

"I will never be able to convince you otherwise, and for the most part I have given up trying; but you are correct in that they do want you at the Ministry as soon as possible – there are a number of people waiting in Minister Bones' office to brief you."

"Ok then," Harry said, as he paused and concentrated for just a moment, "let me just lock up here, we can apparate from the foyer; I've adjusted the wards to allow outgoing trips only for the next few minutes."

The three friends left the apartment, and as soon as Harry had secured his door they disappeared with a trio of soft pops to the Ministry.

* * *

_(S__unday November 5__th__ 2000, 16:12GMT, 11:12EST, 08:12PST)_

In a rustic looking cabin deep in the Sheephole Mountains of California, located on the edge of the Mojave Desert just north of Joshua Tree National park, a small group of humans and quasi-humans were gathered to discuss the rather spectacular results of their meddling the previous day.

The cabin had been built in the early nineteen hundreds, and had been refurbished several times since then to include all modern conveniences. It was large, in excess of one hundred and fifty square meters, and had been divided into a large common room with attached kitchen and several bedrooms.

The group was gathered in the common room, which had been converted into a 'war room' with several large work tables a very large boardroom table and a number of flip charts and writing surfaces. They were the leaders of the organization which had decided to accelerate the collapse of human society. Implement the rise of wizards and facilitate the complete subjugation of so-called normal people to their proper place as slaves to the evolutionary elite which was the wizardry world.

That the humans in the group were willing to work with vampires and other 'half-breed' was a testament to both their desperation, and their hubris. That the non-humans amongst them could be working for more than one organization never entered their minds.

The desire to strike back at the non-magical world was a palatable need for some of them, they felt that the purity of the magical world was threatened by the majority of the population and knew with the convictions of true zealots that they needed to force non-magicals into their proper place through fear and terror. If this also meant that they were required to drag the rest of the wizarding world along with them, so be it.

In this they were much like the British wizard Lord Voldemort who had had the same views, until his demise two years previously that is. However, this group had one major advantage over the former Lord Voldemort; they had, for the most part, spent considerable time in the non-magical world and fully understood how it, and more importantly its governments, worked.

The planning for the attacks had taken months, for some aspects of it years, and the leaders now met, to congratulate themselves, take lessons learned and plan for future strikes.

Their leader, a non-descript man in his apparent sixties with greying red hair and a modest stature, looked at his deputies and other members of his leadership group. This group of mostly men were his cell leaders and it was through them that his orders went down to the rank and file membership. Each of the individual members of the organization would know only the members of their own cell, and therefore not be able to betray the overall organization if caught.

Rapping his knuckles on the boardroom table he brought his followers to order to begin the meeting, "now that we are all here, let us begin our discussions," he said, gathering the group together to sit at the table in the middle of the cabin.

The ten cell leaders all took their places at the table, gathered water or other non-alcoholic drinks to themselves; some went as far as to take out pens and paper to make notes of the meeting.

"Ok, then," the leader continued, "first of all, congratulations to all of you. For the most part everything went off without a hitch."

The other beings all looked pleased at those words, and paused in a moment of self congratulation for a difficult job well done.

"From my contacts in the government," their leader continued, "it would appear that they are completely stunned by our attacks, and have yet to come to a coherent action plan. In fact, their prevailing theory is that the attack was carried out by some dissident members of al-Qaeda, acting without orders."

There were some small chuckles at that as the various members of the organization's leadership found humour in both the thought of mere mundane humans being able to organize such an attack, and the idea that government leaders were always looking at events from what happened before, rather than looking for new sources of danger.

"Lord Ó hAodha," asked one young human male, "are we going to keep them in the dark, or are we going to announce our presence?"

"For now, Paul we remain silent," Lord Ó hAodha replied, "however, after our next attack we will announce ourselves in a blaze of glory and publicity, knowing then that there is nothing they can do to stop us."

Turning to the vampire Alaina Lord ó hAodha said, "now, to my one area of concern, what happened Alaina? Why was one of your attacks not successful?"

Pausing for a moment to collect her thoughts, the vampire said, "Lord, I followed the plan as you instructed. On Friday night we left our safe house in Sunnydale and then drove down to Los Angeles, where I had already arranged for a hotel room near the airport."

She paused for a moment, took a sip of blood from the chalice in front of her and then continued, "my team split up as planned and then in groups of two entered the airport. I followed and watched as unobtrusively as I could."

"Once they had cleared the check-in I watched as the leader of each group Imperiused their colleague and then made sure that the controlled member got onto the targeted aircraft."

Looking around and seeing that there were no questions, she said, "that process obviously worked for four of the targets. I don't know yet what happened with the fifth. I had stayed at the airport to monitor the situation, and to ensure that the other five members of my group got away cleanly. As I was about to leave I noticed that one of the target planes was returning to land. I watched then as he was taken away from the airport by the FBI, to an unknown location, so I do not know why he was not able to complete his mission."

"He is in Washington," Lord Ó hAodha said, "he was flown there by military jet earlier today. "It appears, based on what my contacts have been able to tell me, that he was not able to coerce the flight attendant, so he was therefore not able to gain entrance to the cockpit to take over the plane."

Turning back to Alaina he asked, "what damage can he cause?"

"Well not too much, he knew me, and now only five other members of the team, the other four having been successful. But, as an additional security measure, one I had not fully discussed beforehand with you, I had instructed the group leaders to obliviate their colleagues, in addition to implanting the controlling instructions, just to be on the safe side."

"Excellent," their Lord said, "but I want to take some additional precautions, just in case they are able to determine that he is a wizard and then find a way to break the memory block."

He sat back in his chair, rocking back and forth in thought, "ok, here is what we'll do then," he finally said, "given the travel ban it will be difficult to move the rest of your team them out of the country, at least by plane. However, we can get them away from California, in fact, totally away. Get them on an Amtrak to New York as soon as you get back to Sunnydale. The sooner they are gone the better."

Turning to another member of his organization, a small wizened man who appeared to be in his late eighties, he continued, "John, you make arrangements for them, find them a safe house and keep them out of site."

John said, "Lord, it will be done." Turning to the vampire Alaina he asked, "please make sure you give them a set of contact codes, we do not want to meet them and then run into recognition problems."

"Will do," Alaina said, "but what about me?"

Lord ó hAodha replied, "you I want in Seattle. Pick up the organization from Steve, he will stay on to help you for the first week or so, and then start that group training for the next attack."

Steve, a very tall dusky-skinned man, asked, "what will you want me to do then?"

"I want you in Dallas," replied their leader, "you will be responsible for scouring the local wizard population for others who think the way we do, and start to get them ready for the third set of attacks."

"Now," Lord Ó hAodha said, "let's take a look at the next set of attacks, and finalize the plans and the schedule."

* * *

_(S__unday November 5__th__ 2000, 19:22GMT, 14:22EST, 11:22PST)_

Back in Sunnydale two black suited men peered through their sunglasses at a large three storied brick house located in an exclusive part of town. Looking at a device in his hand the younger of the two men, turned to his companion and said, "looks like this is the place Bill."

"Yep Mike," Bill Morris replied, "ten-o-five Radcliff Street, home of Willow Rosenberg, Buffy Summers and others."

"Well, might as well see if they are home, "Mike Fisher said.

"That shouldn't be a problem," Bill said, "after all it is before noon on a Sunday."

"True," Mike replied, "awake may be an issue, however."

"This is not going to be all that much fun."

"Nope, but the sooner we start, the sooner we finish," answered Mike.

The two men walked through the wrought iron gate and up the slate pathway to the imposing oak double doors ensconced within a portico. They took note of the impeccably maintained gardens and the windows shining bright with reflected sunlight. They observed that though the large bay windows were all brightly polished most of them had had their sheers and drapes drawn, preventing casual looks at the interior of the house. The two men stood on the portico looked for and then pulled the old-fashioned bell pull. Deep within the house they heard the reverberation of the chimes.

After a few minutes they were startled by the door opening silently and a small girl, who looked up at them and asked, "can I help you?"

"Oh! Good morning," Bill said, taking out and showing the young girl a badge, "yes you can. I am Bill Morris and this is my partner Mike Fisher; we are with the AMM. We would like to speak to a Ms. Willow Rosenberg if we can."

"Hi, my name is Samantha, but everyone calls me Sam," the girl said brightly, "the moms are all feeding the babies right now, and the grandparents are still sleeping." Sam paused for a moment and then continued, "please wait here, I will go and check with mom."

Sam closed the door and went into the kitchen where Willow, Buffy, Bridie and Aiofe were sitting around the antique harvest table, each with a baby on the breast and discussing the events of the previous day.

"Willow mum," Sam said entering the room, "there are two men at the door with badges and everything. They want to talk to you."

"Police," Willow asked.

"They said they were with the AMM," Sam answered, "they had a really cool gold badge with an eagle and a star though."

Willow looked over to her lover, _"AMM, any ideas?"_

_"Nope, none, you stay here I will go and see what they want."_

Buffy got up from the table saying, "I'll come with you Sam, and talk to the men with the cool badges."

Buffy adjusted Faith on the breast and led Samantha from the room, to see just what the two men with badges wanted with her lover and leader. Following along behind the two of them was Shadow-Cat.

_"Going to keep an eye on us through your cat are you?"_

_"Yep, easier than waiting for you to tell me later"_, Willow replied the impish tone still being transmitted, all be it mentally.

_"You do know that with the link you can see what I see?"_

_"Yes, but that sometimes gives me a headache, where looking through Shadow's eyes rarely does."_

_"Ok"_, Buffy said, "now Sam let's see what these nice men want."

Buffy opened the door and said, "morning gentlemen, Sam here says you want to speak with us?"

"Ms. Rosenberg" Bill asked, as he and his partner removed their sunglasses and pocketed them.

"Nope, I'm Buffy Summers. Now can I help you?"

Bill and Mike showed their badges and Bill said, "Ms. Summers, I am very sorry to disturb you on a Sunday morning, but we are from the AMM it is very important that we talk to Ms. Rosenberg."

"AMM," Buffy asked, "what is the AMM?"

"We would be happy to explain to both you and Ms. Rosenberg," Mike replied, trying very hard, with some success, to ignore the fact that Buffy was breastfeeding her baby in the doorway, "may we come in?"

Buffy had been using all of her enhanced senses to get a feel for both men, receiving no 'bad-vibes' from either replied, "sure, as long as you don't get even more squicked out by seeing four women feed their daughters, rather than just one."

"Busted Mike," Bill said as he and his partner were escorted into the formal living room.

The room was large, nearly twenty square meters, and had several floor to ceiling windows, each with cushioned covered window seats. Across from the windows was a large masonry heater which had been porcelain faced. There were several occasional tables and a number of comfortable sofas, wing-backed chairs and settees, all covered in dark green fabric.

_"Will, you might want to come on in, bring the girls too."_

_"No problemo, lover, I'll get Sam to go up and see if the others are up yet also."_

_"Good idea."_ Turning to the two men Buffy said, "please, take a seat. Willow and the others will be here shortly."

"Others" asked Mike.

"Our wives," Buffy replied, "Bridie and Aiofe – and you can ask your questions when they get here."

A few moments later they were joined by Willow and the others, each still with their daughters, Willow performed a round of introductions and as they took up comfortable seats and re-settled their babies on the breast she asked, "good morning gentlemen, I am Willow Rosenberg, now may I see your badges before we begin?"

Both men complied with her request, after allowing Willow to examine the badges Mike then said, "Ms. Rosenberg…"

"Willow," interjected the archmage, "calling me Ms. Rosenberg makes me want to look for my mother. Besides, since our group marriage we don't really use last names anymore."

Mike took that comment in stride and re-started the conversation, "Willow, then. Thank you for allowing us to meet with you. I am sure that you have a number of questions, but if you allow my partner and me to brief you for a little bit I think most of them may be answered."

Willow replied, "ok, I am curious, but will keep my questions to a minimum for the most part until you are done." Turning to the others she continued, "right ladies?"

Seeing nods of agreement from the other three women, Bill then took up the conversation, "ok, to begin I am going to start with something that for you, I believe will not be too difficult to understand. Magic is real.

"Duh," Willow replied, "but how did you know I knew about magic? I know, a question right off the start, but you did kinda lead with a bigie."

"That I did," Bill said, "but it is simple, Mike and I are also mages, and we are both members of the American Ministry of Magic, we act in a role similar to police.

"Just to assure you," Mike added, "it is not in that role we are here today."

"Oh, one thing," Bill said, "would you mind if while we were talking we took the opportunity to take some magical measurements? It would allow us to understand a bit better just what has been going on in this town."

Buffy replied, "sure, but as long as before you leave you show us what you were doing."

"That we will," Bill said taking out a small device which looked like a cross between a tape-recorder and a paperback book and placing it on the table.

"Ooh, is that a Palm Pilot," Willow asked.

"Similar," Bill answered, "it has been modified to work with magic and to do some non-standard functions."

"Now, to continue," Mike said, "we work for the American Ministry of Magic, which is an organization that reports to the President and has a primary duty to keep the magical world hidden from normals."

"Nomals," Aiofe whispered, "what are normals?"

"Non-magical people," Bill replied, "the majority of the population."

"Based on our studies," Mike added, "magical people comprise no more than one in one-hundred or so of the total population, or to put into perspective, in the US there are about three million people with magic. In order to keep them from being totally exploited the decision was made centuries ago to hide the magical world, and limit contact between it and the non-magical one.

"In addition, to help govern those people, and to help train and monitor them the Ministry of Magic was created.

"With the forming of the colonies that policy continued, and when the US broke away from Mother Britain we set up our own independent ministry also," Mike paused for a moment as they were joined by Sam, Amana, Susan, Giles and Grael who were bringing in a tray of refreshments for their guests.

After another round of introductions, and a chance to provide everyone with their beverage of choice Willow said, "ok, I understand a bit, but why have I never heard of you before, after all it is not as if I have not been practicing magic?"

"Well," Bill replied, putting down his cup of coffee "that is where we have a bit of a history to tell.

"The world we described is the one that almost all magic users are involved with. There are magical ministries around the world and even a sort of magical UN, which tries to set common policy on education, enforcement and the hiding of the magical world.

"But, before the establishment of this system back in the year two fifty or so there was a break between the Celts/druids and the Norman/Saxons who had been steadily pushing them back from traditional lands. In addition, there appeared to be a break within the druidic community itself, with some wanting to stay and fight, and others wanting to leave.

"In the end they did split and the group which split away, containing almost all of their magical population, did flee, across the Atlantic and established themselves amongst the native communities here."

Mike then continued the ad-hoc history lesson, "once here they fully integrated with the native communities, so that in essence the two peoples became one. With the establishment of the colonies and the waves of immigration twelve hundred years later the original Celtic component was almost gone and the ministry of magic, racists that they were, decided that they would not attempt to bring 'savages' into their world.

"It has only been in the last fifty years or so that the AMM has worked to address this historic wrong and to bring native magic users into the greater magical world."

"Ok," Willow said with a confused expression on her face, "now I'm lost. I understand non-native magic users being part of your AMM, and the natives sort of on their own but are now being integrated. That still has not answered my question about us."

Bill stood up and began to pace before continuing, "you, and more specifically this town, confuse us."

"Sunnydale syndrome," Buffy said, "not the first time that has happened."

"Hellmouth happenings," Willow agreed.

"Yes, well," Bill said, "whatever the reason, this area has been totally off the magical radar, we just did not see or know what was happening."

"What made that change," Amana asked, "after all you are here now, why?"

"That is related to current events," answered Mike, "I assume that you have been keeping track of the tragic news?"

Seeing answering nods, he continued, "what has not been reported, and will never be, is that it would appear that at least some of the hijackers were wizards."

Bill then continued, "one attempt did not succeed, and we were able to capture the hijacker. In discussing this matter with his colleagues our Minister quickly determined that the man was probably a wizard, and that the attacks were most likely carried out by a group of wizarding fanatics, willing to commit suicide in order to facilitate their goals.

"When we investigated further we determined that this particular gentleman had lived in Sunnydale for at least the last year, but, based on our knowledge of magic using people we had no record of him, or for that matter any magic being used in the area. We thought that he could be one of the remaining native magic users and had somehow been able to in essence 'fly under the magic radar' so to speak. Some of these magic users have that ability."

Mike then added, "Bill and I were therefore sent here from our LA office to investigate, and just as we crossed the county line suddenly all of our magic detectors went nuts."

"Naturally we were concerned," Bill added, "we employed some of our magical tracking devices and quickly determined that the centers of magical activity seemed to be around the high-school."

"Hellmouth," chorused Buffy and Willow.

"And this house," Bill continued as if he had not been interrupted.

"A little bit of work with the registry office, and here we are," concluded Mike.

Willow stood up and began to pace in front of the heater, pausing and picking up a picture of Buffy and the children she collected her thoughts and asked, "ok, you have answered what led you here, but not why you are here."

"Well," Mike answered, "that has to do with the anomalies we have found here.

"To begin with, there are far too many magical people and beings here than is warranted by the population. In a town of this size you would expect to find no more than one or two magic users, but here we have found traces of dozens, not all of them human."

Bill added, "that many is usually only found in specific wizard towns."

"So, once we had analysed the magic traces we determined that the strongest user was here. From our early analysis of the magic that had been used in this area it appeared that, while there were some significant differences, most of the magic used in this area was similar to our practices."

"Now, to continue on a bit," Mike said, "why we are here discussing this with you is rather simple; we need your help. In addition, once this crisis is over, we would like to bring you and your group more fully into the greater magical world."

"Explain," ordered Buffy, "why do you need our help?"

"We believe that you would be in the best position to help us understand what was and is going on magically in this town, and be able to help us find out just who this wizard is and where he comes from."

"Don't you have methods to get that from him," Grael asked, "after all we do know that law-enforcement organizations do have interrogation methods."

"We do," replied Bill, "unfortunately in this case it would appear that that portion of his memory has been erased, we might be able to deal with that in time, but that is a long-term solution."

"Ok, I understand that we might be able to provide some background and information on what is going on in town," Willow said, "but I don't know how much help we can provide with your overall problem of dealing with a wizard terrorist threat."

"After all," Bridie added, "we do have our own threats to deal with."

Grael looked thoughtful at that and then said, "it is possible that they could be linked."

"Please explain," Bill asked, "what threats are you speaking of?"

"Oh," Buffy said slyly, "only the threat of inter-dimensional demons taking over the world, enslaving all of humanity, and draining the world's energy and resources dry."

Both men looked stunned at the slayer and Mike asked, "could you explain?"

Buffy and Willow, with the assistance of the others, then informed the nice men from the AMM that their problems were relatively minor compared to the threat of inter-dimensional hostilities. They provided details of there trip to an alternative world, and how they had discovered the millennia old threat that demons possessed and that the Earth was definitely on the target list. Finally Giles explained about the watchers counsel in England being a demon front and that its purpose was to soften the target to allow for an easier takeover.

Mike digested this for a moment, finished his now cold cup of coffee, and asked, "do you have anything to back this up?"

Buffy chuckled and said, "other than the fact that in this room there are four adults and three children who are from that other earth?"

Bill startled at that and exclaimed, "well that explains that then."

"You're right," Mike said. Turning to the others he added, "when we arrived at your house we did a standard scan for magical signatures, and we determined that everyone in the house was a wizard.

"Once we crossed the ward hiding Sunnydale from the rest of the magical world, our various magic tracking systems had begun to work, including our magical registries.

"As part of the scans we have been doing we cross-referenced the people in the house against the registries, and I have been puzzled by some of the readings."

"Oh," Willow asked, "puzzled how?"

"Well," he replied, "one of the scans is for the magical registry of children, so they can be registered in our magic schools."

"There are schools," Willow exclaimed.

"Yes," Mike replied, "from primary right through to university. But, even though one set of readings was indicating that all five of the children were magical, the registry was only showing two of them."

Bill said, "Probably a software glitch, in that it does not know how to recognize people who were not born on Earth. Not that it was ever required to do so before." He continued, "but one thing I can do is to let you know that Sam here will be getting an invite to the Redwoods School of Magic."

"Cool," Buffy said.

"But," Willow interrupted, "that can wait for now. We still need to figure out if the AMM's problems are linked to ours."

"If you let me use your phone," Bill said, "I can phone the office in LA and see if they have any additional information or instructions which can help."

"Sam will show you where it is," Buffy said, "but we are still having problems getting a line sometimes."

"That's ok," Bill replied, "I have a code to access a dedicated watts line; that will pretty much guarantee getting through."

Sam took Bill into the kitchen, the nearest phone. While they waited for their return the others took the opportunity to discuss magic, the AMM, the schooling system, Willow's experiences as a witch and other topics of interests.

After nearly forty minutes Sam and Bill returned, he said, "sorry I took so long, but your information has stirred up a hornet's nest."

Mike asked, "how's that, what has got John's shorts knotted up?"

"Well the brass was worked up enough by the fact that Sunnydale had been off the magical radar for no one knows how long, on top of the now confirmed information that the hijackers were wizards. Apparently they were able to get enough out of the hijacker we caught to determine that he was part of a large organization which is dedicated to having a wizardry takeover of the rest of the world and the setting up of a feudal system where wizards would enslave the normal population.

"Then I call in to tell them about this cross-dimension demon problem and I swear John was going to have kittens over the phone."

"What are we going to do then," Buffy asked.

Bill said, "well, once it was determined that there was a wizarding terrorist organization out there, willing to kill there own to further their agenda, the President called the British Prime Minister."

Willow questioned, "what can they do to help?"

"A couple of years ago the Brits had a serious terrorist problem in their wizarding world," Bill said, "a 'Lord Voldemort' was causing lots of trouble. They were able to eliminate the threat, but only after a large number of both wizards and the general population were killed."

"Well then," Bridie said, "they do appear to be subject matter experts then, are they going to help?"

"Before my call they had already agreed to try to get the people who finished off Voldemort to come over here to advise and assist if possible."

"Great," Willow said, "will we get a chance to talk to them?"

Bill replied, "better; one of the reasons I was so long is that John put me on hold so he could brief the senior brass in Washington. Apparently your information tied into something they had been working on, so the decision was made to bring the Brits to you."

"Great," Buffy said, "when will they be here, and how are they getting here?"

"Well, not here, at least to begin with," Bill said, "we are going to have to take you to meet them."

"Ok," Willow said, "who, and for how long?"

"I would suggest you and Ms. Summers," Bill replied, "and we will be leaving from the airport here to fly to where they will be arriving. But, if everything goes ok we should be back by tonight."

"Ok then," Willow said, "the girls will be ok with Aiofe and Bridie till then. Sam and Amana can get a few more of the guest rooms ready, since I assume the two of you will be sticking around, at least in the short term?"

Mike replied, "yes, we did plan to if things worked out, but we can stay in a hotel."

Buffy interjected, "nonsense, you can stay with us. Now, how are we getting to the airport, you have a car waiting?"

Bill replied, "no, we've been given permission to use a wizarding travel method."

"Cool," Willow exclaimed, "learning something new. But what did you mean by permission?"

"Well," Bill said, "once it was determined that wizards were involved in the terrorist attacks the Minister of magic effectively banned most forms of wizard travel. However, due to the urgency of this situation we are being allowed to apparate to the airport, but will then need to fly to where we will meet the Brits."

"Ok, what is apparate," asked Buffy, as she and Willow took the opportunity to kiss their daughters and then pass them over to Aiofe and Bridie.

"The simplest explanation is that it is a form of teleportation," answered Mike, "what Bill and I will be doing is that each of us will hold onto one of your arms and side-along apparate you to the airport. Later, I will be happy to teach you the theory and have you practice; it is like a driver's test, once you learn you will be tested and then get a licence."

"Ok," Willow said, let's get going then, "but you mentioned fly to meet them, where are we going to fly to?"

"Groom Lake," Bill replied, as he grasped Buffy's arm, while Mike grabbed Willow's. Moments later the four disappeared with a pop.

* * *

_(S__unday November 5__th__ 2000, 20:02GMT, 15:02EST, 12:02PST)_

Harry and Hermione were exhausted. They had been in a series of meetings that had lasted over ten hours. First they had been in meetings for the entire morning with the Minister of magic and then they had spent the afternoon and early evening with the British Prime Minister and his COBRA committee. They had been finally allowed to leave just a few minutes earlier, to try to clear their heads and to get something to eat and drink that wasn't stale sandwiches and cold tea.

The meetings had included numerous topics, ranging from the suggestion from the Americans that there was magical involvement in the attacks; to how exactly the British Government and its Ministry of magic could help, to what impact the rise of a new group of wizarding terrorists could have on the magical population in Great Britain and in Europe.

Harry and Hermione had quickly learned that their presence was specifically required as subject matter experts, as they were the only people still living who had terminated a previous wizarding terrorist organization. In fact, after greeting Ron, Minister Bones had quickly asked him to leave, indicating that his presence, while welcome, was not going to be required.

Ron had managed to control his bad temper and, having extracted promises from both Hermione and Harry to let him know what went on during the meeting, left to obtain his badly delayed breakfast.

Harry had suggested to Hermione that they grab a bite to eat at a small Indian restaurant that he knew near Waterloo station. They had crossed over the Thames River, deciding that the walk in the evening air would help clear their heads and improve their appetites.

Hermione asked as she looked at the plates of curry and other dishes being laid on the table, "where do you find these places Harry?"

"Oh, friends and colleagues recommend them to me," Harry replied, as he dished up a rice and fish dish.

"You mean your non-magical friends don't you Harry," she asked with a hint of petulance in her voice.

"Mi, we've been through this," Harry said, with a warning hint in his voice, "you know why I've pulled away. As much as I love you and tolerate Ron, there are very few others in that world that I trust, let alone want to spend all that much time with."

"I know, and I've told you that I've come to accept it, most of the time. But, to give up all that is wonderful about magic."

"I haven't given it up, Mi," Harry replied, "you are the only thing that was truly wonderful in the magical world, and I still have you. The rest I use as I need."

Harry paused to eat some curry and to pour another cup of tea for Hermione and himself before continuing, "after we finished the war I was again treated like a freak; then there was the whispering campaign about how I was unstable and going to go mad with power and turn into a dark-lord. On top of that there were all those un-repentant blood purists who got away without paying any type of penalty, all in the name of the 'greater good'. It still rankles that I was pilloried but murders like Parkinson got away with not even a slap on the wrist."

"I share your disgust at what happened, Harry," Hermione said as she reached across the table to hold his hand, "but I can not totally abandon them. I want to continue to try to work from within to change the system."

"I respect your decision Mi," Harry said, "even if I often want to hum 'man of la mancha' at you when you get particularly strident about something."

"I am not tilting at windmills Harry," Hermione pouted, seeing his amused grin, she added with a little smile, "well, not always."

Abruptly changing the subject Harry said, "you know that I love you, don't you Mi?"

"Yes," she replied, wondering where this was going.

"I know that you have been with me through everything," seeing a look of panic beginning to cross Hermione's face he quickly continued, "and I am not trying to get you to stay away, never again."

Hermione sighed, "ok, what is it then?"

"Well, you know that since my falling out with certain people in the wizarding world and since you came to your senses regarding Ron we have been…"

"Shag-buddies," offered Hermione.

"Yes," Harry replied. He paused to gulp some tea and then continued, "I would like to try to move from that to having a real relationship, if you think that that is possible."

Hermione jumped for joy, at least internally, she had been waiting for, and working for, this moment for over a year, "yes love, I do think it's possible." She leaned over the table and gave her best friend a soft kiss, "I think that we will need to take the time to discuss this, once this current crisis is done."

The two young lovers then proceeded to finish their meal, taking the time every few minutes to pause and give each other a kiss or a loving comment.

After finishing their meal Hermione turned to the other topic on both of their minds, "what will they want us to do?"

"Well," Harry replied, "if there is a connection to the wizarding world there is then probably a group of malcontents. We will probably be asked to help the Americans find the group; after all I am the boy-who-slays dork lords."

"Well, at least you did finally agree to help them."

"Only after they agreed that you would be my contact with the British Ministry of magic, as much as I think that Minister Bones is doing an ok job there are still too many racists and bigots for my liking involved in running the magical world."

"When do you think we will be meeting the Americans?"

Harry paused for a moment and poured himself and Hermione another cup of tea, "from what I understand from the conference call we had with them, they will want us in Washington quickly. Given that they have shut-down all air travel and severely restricted apparating into North America I do not know how we will get there. Not my problem, they want us, they can figure out how to get us there restrictions or not."

Just then his mobile warbled, Harry fished it out of his coat pocket and said, "Potter…"

Hermione listed in to Harry's side of the conversation.

"Yes sir, I understand, we are just finishing up here now."

"Ok, that fast?"

"Where are we to go?"

"Understood, you have the coordinates for me?"

"Ta sir, let them know we will be there in less than a half hour." Harry rung off the mobile and put it back in his coat before turning to Hermione and saying "we need to pop by your flat and grab a travel bag. Then we can do the same at my place. They have arranged transport to the States for us."

"Oh," she replied, "how?"

"American military is going to give us a lift," Harry replied, "we will meet them at an airfield up in Scotland. The Prime Minister was kind enough to give me the coordinates."

"That was the PM?"

"Yes, apparently something else is going on, they now want us to meet some American witches in a town near LA."

"Ok, where are we going?"

"RAF Machrihanish, on the tip of Kintyre."

Harry settled up their bill and they left to do what minimal packing they required.

* * *

_(S__unday November 5__th__ 2000, 21:52GMT, 16:52EST, 13:52PST)_

Hermione and Harry arrived with soft pops in one of a series of aircraft hangers on the RAF base of Machrihanish. This was an old cold-war era facility which had been mostly abandoned, except for a secret American testing facility. The Americans were using the base due to its isolation and that the end of the runway was close to water, allowing for secrecy in flight operations and safety in case of an emergency.

The interior of the hanger was pristine; every part of it was brightly illuminated with high-intensity metal vapour lights. In the center of the hanger sat two delta-winged aircraft; black on black, grey shadowed letter markings, low to the ground and with a predatory nature they oozed both awe and menace. The aircraft were surrounded by their ground support and servicing equipment, it was obvious that they were being prepared for flight.

"Our transport, I presume," Harry said to the only person that was in the hanger, obviously waiting for their arrival.

"Yes sir," replied Lieutenant Colonel Tomlinson. The colonel was career military and had been in charge of this facility and its wing of four strategic reconnaissance aircraft for the past year. Their primary mission was to conduct high-altitude over-flights of critical areas of the world, when speed and stealth were critical mission parameters.

Earlier that day he had been contacted by his commanding officer and informed that he would be receiving a special briefing involving National Security. He was further instructed that he would be entertaining members of the British Government, to whom he would be expected to provide every courtesy and grant them whatever they needed.

Later he had met with two men who, after providing clearances signed by the President, had read him into Sigma clearance. He had received another call from his commanding officer forty-five minutes earlier instructing him to begin preparing two of his babies for flight and that each would be carrying a passenger rather than the systems officer. He was further instructed that except for himself he was to clear the hanger at 21:45, his guests would be arriving in the hanger shortly after that time.

He still did not totally believe everything he had been told that day, however, having just watched two people appear out of thin air went a long way to convincing him.

Harry said, "my name is Harry Potter and this is Hermione Granger the only person who is able to keep me focused, thank you for helping to get us to where we are supposed to be going."

"My pleasure to receive you," the colonel replied, "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Tomlinson, if you would follow me we will need to get the two of you fitted for pressure suits." Seeing that they were both carrying bags, he added, "you can leave your bags here, I will have them stored aboard."

The major picked up a phone and summoned back to the hanger the ground technicians so that they could finish preparing the two aircraft for flight.

Hermione could not keep her eyes off the aircraft every pore in her body was reacting to the raw menace and power emanating from the admittedly very sexy planes; turning to her host she asked, "Colonel, if I may, what aircraft are these."

"SR-91s Ms. Granger," he replied, knowing that just by their presence on the base and the method of their arrival that his two guests had a clearance level at least as high as his own, "the Aurora." With that he led the two civilians to be fitted for their required pressure suits, meet their pilots and go through all of the other requirements needed before they would be able to take their places on the most advanced, and secret, aircraft in the world.

Just over two hours later the two jets silently left the airfield and climbed out over Machrihanish Bay. They rapidly accelerated past the sound barrier as they ascended to their cruising altitude of over thirty-five thousand meters and began their two and a half hour flight to Groom Lake, Nevada.

* * *

A/N – thanks all for reading, please review if you have a moment.


	3. Omnia Causa Fiunt

Disclaimers:

Buffy, Willow and all of the other characters and places from the show are © to Joss Whedon, UPN and Mutant Enemy etal. Harry, Hermione and the other characters and places from Harry Potter are © to JK Rowling – I am just playing in their sandboxes. There are some historical figures in this, obviously used in a non-historic way. Everyone and everything else is mine. None of my characters are meant to resemble anyone living, dead or un-dead, if you see yourself you are looking way too hard.

Please note that things perceived by characters other than by the five acknowledged senses have been enclosed in _Italics_.

Other notes are on my profile page.

Feedback:

Please. And thanks to all who have commented on previous efforts, I appreciate everything that was said. As before, all meaningful criticism, support and suggestions are welcome.

* * *

**Chapter III – ****Omnia Causa Fiunt**

**(Everything happens for a reason)**

* * *

_(Monday November 6__th__ 2000, 00:15GMT, 19:15EST (5__th__), 16:15PST (5__th))_

The challenger 605 passenger jet, with US Air Force markings, appeared out of the setting sun. On a priority approach it turned onto its final and lined up with runway 32L. Flaring out just as it crossed over the threshold markings it touched down and it rapidly slowed to a stop, just as it had used a third of the runway's thirty-six hundred metre length. It continued down the runway before turning to the left and then moving quickly across the tarmac where it disappeared into a hanger, whose doors were closing even as the jet was entering.

The hanger was large enough to comfortably hold two jumbo jets; however, it was otherwise empty except for the new arrival. It moved to the far back corner and then, following the instructions of the ground handlers, turned so that its nose was pointing back toward the hanger doors. As it came to a stop air force personal immediately chocked the wheels and waited until the engines were powered down before grounding the aircraft and connecting it to external power. As soon as the on-board crew received confirmation from their ground handlers that everything was done the door to the jet swung open and lowered.

Buffy and Willow, followed close behind by Bill Morris and Mike Fisher, exited the jet using the integrated stairs in the door. Reaching the ground Willow turned back and said, "Thanks for the ride."

Turning back to Mike she continued, "now what?"

Seeing a welcoming committee arriving in the hanger and beginning to walk towards them he replied, "Looks like we meet our hosts. I guess they may be able to fill us in. Oh, there's one more thing."

"Yes," Buffy asked.

"Until we are told otherwise, do not advertise or announce your special abilities," Mike replied.

Bill added, "Unless we get into an emergency that is."

Willow said, "Works for me."

As they were taking four men finished crossing the hanger to arrive before the recent visitors to the base; seeing no one who was obviously in charge the senior officer said, "Welcome to Groom Lake. I'm Colonel Darren Ketcheson, these are my senior officers." The colonel went on to complete his introductions.

Mike then said, "thank you for receiving us Colonel. My name is Mike Fisher," he then proceeded to introduce the rest of the group before continuing; "I understand that you were advised of the purpose of our visit?"

"Yes sir," Colonel Ketcheson replied, "I received a briefing from National Command Authority that your group, and two others, were arriving and that you would be departing almost immediately once you were all here.

"I have ordered your jet to be prepared for departure as quickly as possible; my men should be completed in forty minutes or so."

During the wait for their flight, and while flying from Sunnydale, Willow had questioned the two men from the AMM in greater detail about their systems of magic, the magical ministry and the magical world overall. As she had learned more her natural leadership abilities began to assert themselves and as the day progressed she rapidly assumed leadership of the team which was apparently in the process of being tasked with the effort to determine if the current tragedy was linked to her issues with trans-dimensional demons. They had begun to make provisional work plans, ones which would be more fully developed once they had had a chance to meet the two wizards from England.

They had discussed demons, beyond what the American ministry were familiar with. Like most people in the greater wizarding world they were aware of vampires, however, they were unaware of the greater role and variety of demons which walked the Earth. When asked how they could walk unannounced amongst the greater human population Buffy had explained how most demons had the ability to hide their true visage from humans, and therefore appeared normal when they interacted with them. It took special abilities, such as those possessed by the slayer, to see through that ability and identify the non-humans. This had led to a discussion on slayers and the special abilities they had and how, since they were often the only ones who could truly see the demons, they had been branded as witches and many had suffered under the pogroms. It was explained that throughout Earth's history slayers were called to their vocation and trained by what was now understood to be a demon front in order to control them, and to ultimately destroy them. They expressed some speculation on if this was true training, or simply a way to limit the slayer's abilities.

They had had a general conversation on why Sunnydale had remained hidden from the greater wizarding world. Willow had speculated that it was most likely due to the distortions caused by the hellmouth and had mused that it would be interesting to investigate the eight other locations on Earth where she knew there were other hellmouths to see if they too were hidden from the wizarding world. When Mike had asked Willow about the locations she had indicated that to the best of her knowledge there were in France, Italy, Mexico, Iraq, Egypt, Japan, India and Australia. Willow had said that she could precisely fix their locations in the magical realm; however, she was not able to do so on the material plane. They speculated that it might be due to the ability of the hellmouths to keep their locations hidden.

Bill had indicated that the information would most likely be passed on to the appropriate ministries by the AMM, once they had an opportunity to do so, without causing panic.

Willow therefore replied on behalf of what she was now calling her team, "thank you Colonel, "we appreciate your efforts." Looking around the cavernous hanger, empty except for the jet they had arrived in and a few pieces of service equipment, she added, "Is there somewhere we can wait, and do you have word on when we may be expecting the English contingent to arrive?"

Momentarily distracted by her comments, since Willow was the least likely in his opinion to be a leader, Colonel Ketcheson paused before answering, "You're welcome. We have a room near to this hanger that has been secured and is available for your use."

He motioned them towards a door near to where their jet had been parked, then continued, "We have just received confirmation that your two colleagues have left English airspace."

The door led to a short set of corridors with a number of doors which had no identification on them. After a few moments the Colonel said, as he stopped at one specific un-identified door, "This is the briefing room we have set aside for you."

The Colonel produced a key and opened the door, as he held the door to allow his guest to enter the room he added, "Just to let you know, if they stay on schedule they will arrive in just over two hours."

At the looks of astonishment on the faces of the four he added, "We do have some fast aircraft, very fast ones."

"You're not joking," Willow replied, "that's like nearly eight thousand kilometres in just over two hours that is certainly not using any commercial jets that I am aware of."

"You're quite correct," Colonel Ketcheson said, "They are riding backseat on a military ride"

"If that is the case," Buffy said, "then we will easily be able to get back to the kids tonight. For a while I was worried that we would need to leave them overnight."

Mike replied, after doing some calculations in his head, "Nope we'll have no real worries there ladies; provided we have no surprises we should all be back in Sunnydale no later than ten or so."

The quartet took in their surroundings. The briefing room was not overtly large, no more than forty square meters or so, however, in keeping with the secret nature of the facility the room was windowless. Their trip across the airfield had been so quick they were not able to see very many details before the plane had been swallowed by the hanger; they therefore had no idea if it was standing alone, or part of a complex of buildings. There was no way of knowing if the room they had been given for their use was deep within the base or right next to the tarmac.

It had a large number of comfortable chairs facing a raised dais which occupied the wall opposite from the door they had used to enter the room. There were a number of other doors, presumably leading to other areas of the base. There were a number of desks on the podium, and charts and screens covered the wall behind it. Bright florescent lighting illuminated the room and there was task lighting for both the desks and for the chairs.

The colonel said, "I would ask that you remain in this room, or in the hanger. The rest of the base is too sensitive for non-cleared personal to wander about."

"Not going to let us get a look at the aliens then are you," Willow quipped.

"I not going to even answer that question, even if I could" he replied. Changing the subject he said, "I will arrange for a light supper to be sent in, however. Through that door to the left are changing facilities and showers, should you feel the need."

"Colonel," Mike said, "I will need to contact both LA and Washington on a secure line."

"The phones on those desks are all secure," Colonel Ketcheson replied pointing out the ones on the podium, "dial one for a watts line; I presume that you have the required codes?"

"I do, and thank you," Mike replied.

While they waited for Mike to finish his calls, Willow once again took the opportunity to talk to Bill about differences in magic. Willow learned about the formalized schooling process, and the specialization of magic into specific disciplines such as runes, potions, transfiguration and charms. He discussed how some wizards were more adept in some areas than in other areas of magical disciplines.

Willow, in turn, discussed her training, mostly self taught. She soon realized that while she was obviously a powerful witch and in some areas incredibly skilled there were some aspects of this world of magic where her knowledge was very limited.

"Potions," she said, "I know next to nothing about that. In addition, there are those skills with plants that you mentioned."

"We can take the time to get you training," Bill replied, "Once this emergency is over we can look at getting all of you assessed."

"One thing bothers me though," Willow commented, "a significant portion of my work is ritual based; but, I have not heard anything from you which indicates that this type of magic is common in your world."

"It isn't. However, it is not totally unknown, just not practiced all that much anymore. Perhaps you will be able to help bring it back."

"How's that?" She asked Bill.

"Well," he said, "most of our population is not very religious. Having you, as powerful as you are, demonstrating your faith may help some of them find a direction and a path."

Buffy joined the conversation asking, "How will that help?"

"It will help by demonstrating an alternative to the bigots," Mike replied, having completed his phone calls and moving back to sit with the others and join the discussion.

"How did it go," his partner asked.

"I checked in, with the home office and with the ministry in Washington, nothing new, at least nothing they were willing to discuss on the phone that is."

Bill said, "I guess we have some dinner and wait then."

* * *

_(Monday November 6__th__ 2000, 01:03GMT, 20:03EST (5__th__), 17:03PST (5__th))_

In a basement conference room, located in an eighteenth century town home just off Cheapside in the City of London, four demons sat around a table discussing recent events. This home was headquarters of the so-called watcher's counsel; however, its true role was to be the control centre for the inter-dimensional demons that were planning the long-term subjugation of humanity, leading to the eventual reduction of the Earth to an energy less husk. These four were the leadership of this effort, some had been involved for tens of decades, and others amongst the group were more recent travellers to Earth. However, all four knew that they would not see their efforts come to fruition. This inter-dimensional organization thought in long-term plans, plans which were measured in millennia.

"What is the impact of all of this on our operations," asked a tall green skinned demon who had a single horn jutting out of his forehead.

A more humanoid demon, whose only outward appearance of being a demon was two small horns above his ears replied, "Minimal; we are isolated from the small group of vampires who helped this so called WRF. Some of them did advise us that this was planned, and we were able to take some precautions beforehand. Primarily we were able to move sensitive operations away from the States, and to hide other activates which might not stand up to an all out investigation of everything – which is unquestionably what the American government is going to do now."

"WRF, what in the name of the Gods of Chaos was that again, Enoch," said their leader, speaking for the first time, "as far as I am aware they have not yet claimed responsibility."

The humanoid demon replied, "They haven't yet done so Sir. However, one of our division leaders has become a cell leader for this so called Lord Ó hAodha. He has christened the group the Wizard Resistance Front, or WRF for short."

The leader paused in thought before continuing, "Hmm, looks like they may be more than a one-shot wonder then, if they have created a cell based organizational structure, named themselves and are not yet ready to announce themselves." He stood up from the table and began to pace, "we might be able to work with this, especially if our more vulnerable members and activities in the States have already been moved or concealed."

Turning to the fourth member of the leadership, this one the most human of them all since he was, in fact, a four hundred year old vampire he ordered, "Bladoch, I want you to start to put together a set of contingency options for me. If this WRF is able to disrupt the greater world's economy it may push them into a crisis that we can exploit, and help expedite our agenda."

The vampire elder replied, "No problem sir, I should have something drafted in a week or so."

Turning back to his second in command, the green skinned demon, the leader said, "Kraz, what is the likely response from the humans? What have our human servants been telling you?"

"Well sir, as you can imagine, the Americans are going crazy with their overreaction," Kraz replied, "to a lesser extent so are the Canadians and the British.

"They have, as you know, cancelled all domestic and international air travel in both the States and Canada.

"In addition, they have begun to investigate known terrorist organizations, have clamped down on land and sea crossings and have placed their military on heightened alert both at home and here in Europe.

"I understand that the Americans have asked their British counterparts for help from both their military and their police agencies. One curious piece of news is that they have asked the PM to obtain assistance from the British Ministry for Magic."

The other three demons looked startled at that comment, they knew that the British magical world did almost everything it could to be separate from the non-magical one; for the Prime Minister to have called them in the governments must have suspected that wizards were involved.

The leader asked, returning to his seat, "why the British magical ministry? After all, we know that the Americans have their own ministry."

"However," Kraz replied, "the British ministry does have recent experience with a magical terrorist organization, and defeating it. That is experience no other magical ministry has.

"To conclude the PM called a COBRA meeting just after midnight on Sunday, a little over twenty-four hours now, and they have been having near continuous COBRA level meetings since then. I do not know yet if the Queen has been briefed; I know for certain that the opposition has not been, since we have several operatives planted in their offices."

"So," the leader asked, "bottom line, what are they going to do?"

"Unknown, none of our servants is cleared high enough to be aware of the minutes of COBRA meetings. However, in a day or so, some information will shake loose, and we will know more then; earlier than that if the PM briefs the opposition."

The leader then asked, "Anything else on this subject?" Seeing that no one had anything to add he went on to say, "OK then, while we are all here let's take a look at the problems we're having in California, in particular how we have appeared to have lost control of the slayer."

Enoch, the demon responsible for the containment of slayers, said, "Nothing really new since her watcher resigned without a reason in February. We have not been able to contact either the watcher or the slayer; they have refused to talk to us and are returning all of our mail unopened. We have a number of contacts in the area which are reporting on the activities of the slayer. However, they are telling us nothing concrete, except that it appears she is being even more effective than she was previously at finding our kind and eliminating them. In fact, one our contacts in Sunnydale is the vampire who is a cell leader for that wizard Lord, she's been feeding us the best information that we have been able to cross verify."

"What has been the damage so far," Kraz asked.

"There has been a near two hundred percent increase in fatalities, nearly all of the local vampires, with the exception of the one I mentioned and her fledglings, have met their true death," Enoch replied, "it's almost if…"

"What are you thinking," his leader asked.

Enoch exclaimed, "That has to be it." Looking at the rest of the demon leadership he continued, "The slayer bitch, or someone close to her, must know about the potentials, and they are in the process of activating them. It is the only way that the numbers make sense."

The leader paused in thought before saying, "if you are right it would explain a lot. But we need to make certain and then, even if it costs us thousands, contain them and bring things back to the way we need them to be."

He then continued, "This wizard problem might now be even more critical to our efforts."

Enoch asked, "How's that sir?"

"If we are facing more than one slayer, we might be able to conceal our activities beneath what the wizards are doing," the leader replied. He stood up again from the table and paced back and forth in front of it for a moment before continuing, "Enoch, it is not going to be easy to get you to the states right now, the humans are almost certainly going to go overboard and impose severe travel restrictions. However, dangerous though it may be, I want you to go to the portal in France and trans-locate to Sunnydale. Once there you are to take stock of the situation and begin to plan our response. At a minimum get control of that vampire and get her working far more closely with us in her dealings with that so called 'lord'. Leave now."

Enoch stood up from the table and left the room saying, "I should be there in a couple of days, and I will contact you then."

* * *

_(Monday November 6__th__ 2000, 01:44GMT, 20:44EST (5__th__), 17:44PST (5__th))_

The President was wrapping up another briefing on the on-going domestic and international crises that the terrorist actions the day before had caused. He was still onboard Air Force One, flying high above the southwest. The converted Boeing 747 was currently being escorted by strike fighters based out of Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada; they had just recently taken over from other air-wings, since the President had been continually escorted by fighters since immediately after his plane had become airborne.

They had been in the air for almost thirty-four hours now, having been refuelled in flight several times, and the President and his team on board were beginning to feel the effects of the constant flying.

President Clinton, sitting at his desk onboard his flying office, was conversing with members of his National Security team, most of whom were still in the White House situation room, "ok, we announce that pending any further attacks that domestic air travel, including travel to Canada, will recommence Tuesday morning at noon eastern time."

"Correct Mr. President," his transportation secretary said, "that is in just over a day and a half from now."

The President continued, "And that will take care of most of the diverted flights and get them back to their original destinations?"

"Yes sir," Secretary Slater said, "there are a couple of airports where flights were diverted to that have experienced fuel shortages. However, we have been advised by the local agencies that they will have those problems solved by Thursday at the latest."

"International travel?"

Secretary Slater replied, "Mr. President, we are looking at Thursday noon eastern for that to recommence, although some of those flights may be pushed back to Friday. Some of the airlines are indicating that they may need to move air crew and planes around in order to fit their schedules."

The President then asked his National Security Advisor, "Sandy, what is the likelihood of another attack?"

"We feel the risk is minimal, Mr. President," Sandy Berger replied, "we have increased surveillance on all known terrorist organizations, in particular those with the ability to conduct this type of operation, and have asked our allies to do the same." The National Security Advisor was, in part, playing a role in front of the Transportation Secretary. He knew, since he had the required clearance, that the terrorists in this case were certainly not of the normal, known, variety. He and the President had discussed this approach earlier with the Director of the FBI and the Director for Magic.

"Now, what about security once the planes begin flying," the President asked.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs Hugh Shelton replied, "With the mobilization of the National Guard we will be increasing security at all airports. Specifically at the check-ins and at the gates."

The President thought for a moment before saying, "Al, I need you to start working the hill. We are going to need to put together a quick funding package to cover all the costs since I'm all but certain the airlines are going to be screaming for money. Not to mention the money we are going to need to cover the increased security and other measures."

The President paused and then said to the transportation secretary, "Ok Rod, you go on background to the media now with the announcement of the resumption of domestic travel and that we are looking at ways to address the concerns of the airlines." Addressing the Director of the FBI he added, "Louis, you go with him and brief them generally on what we are doing to watch and prevent this from happening again; you might want to discuss the new security measures."

"Yes Mr. President," both men said.

"Ok then," President Clinton said, "Rod, thanks for your efforts on this, be sure to give your team a big pat on the back for pulling out the stops and getting this ready to go. The American people will be reassured to a great extent once we get the planes moving again."

Recognizing the dismissal the Secretary said, "I'll be certain to do that Mr. President. I will leave to make the necessary arrangements to brief the press."

Turning to his chief of staff, who was on the plane with him, the President asked, "Where is the best place for us to land and then to have a press conference?"

John Podesta thought for a moment and then said, "Los Angeles, it will give us good exposure and full access to the media. We will miss the normal news cycles, but will be able to get onto cable and the morning shows will have enough time to do a good job."

"Ok John, make the necessary arrangements and announcements. Since there is no media aboard you will need to liaise with your contacts in Washington and in LA."

"No problem sir," John Podesta said as he left the office, "I'll just go and set that up now."

The President then, turning back to the crisis, asked, "Ok, are we clear to discuss Sigma matters?"

The Vice President replied, "We are clear on this end sir."

The President then said, "Alright then, let's look at how we are going to address the threats from wizards."

"Has General Davis been advised about the new threat vector, and has he been cleared to Sigma level," the President asked.

"He has Mr. President," replied the Vice President.

The President then asked, "Has he been given the new screening guide, and has it been circulated?"

"Yes sir," General Shelton replied, "Director Jenkens's advisors have provided a good guide as to what to look for in someone who is acting on instructions from others. We have incorporated those items into our standard observation checklist, which will be circulated to all guard members who are on station at the airports."

"Director Jenkens" the President questioned.

"I believe that that will be sufficient sir," Director Jenkens replied, "I will, however, be also stationing some of my officers in various airports."

"Do you have enough," the Director of the FBI asked, "from your briefings I understand that your numbers are limited."

"That is correct," Jenkens said, "however, we do have the ability to move great distances almost instantaneously. Therefore, my plan is to station officers at all of the major airports, with the ability to have backup as required. Since we are dealing with wizards I will not be lifting the restrictions on that form of travel for the near future."

"Ok then," said the President, "Director Jenkens, any further developments on what we are doing to figure out what went on, and who is responsible?"

"We have been advised that the British wizards are on their way," David Jenkens replied, "they left Scotland using Air Force transport about an hour and forty minutes ago."

"When will they arrive?"

Looking at his watch the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs said, "We were able to arrange some birds with speed sir. They will arrive at Groom Lake in just under an hour."

"David," the President said, "I want you to meet them since I understand that you can get there from Washington without any great difficulty."

"No problem, sir," the Director for Magic replied, "If you can clear it with the base commander I will be able to get there with no difficulty."

"What do you need" General Shelton asked.

"Clearance from you, and a secure location to arrive in," Jenkens replied. "We have the ability using GPS to apparate to just about any location."

"I'll call Colonel Ketcheson and tell him you are on the way," the general said.

"Anything else David," the President asked.

"We have arranged for the two witches who brought to our attention the demon threat to work with us, and the Brits," Director Jenkens replied, "they, and two of my men, are on the way to meet with them on arrival. I will be able to make contact with them at Groom Lake also. That way the Brits will be able to be brought up to speed quickly."

"Very good," the President said, "While we are discussing this it looks like those who are cleared to know about the wizarding world is getting rather large, who now has clearance?"

David Jenkens said, "Well sir, aside from those who had clearance prior to Saturday we have now added the base commanders at Groom Lake and at the RAF base of Machrihanish. We have added the deputy base commanders at Groom Lake, and General Davis. We are still at a manageable level, and will be removing clearance, as required, once this crisis is over."

The Vice President asked, "Explain again how that is done."

"It is rather straight forward sir. As part of the process of a person gaining clearance at Sigma level they agree in advance to have their memory modified to remove all knowledge of the magical world, once they no longer require that knowledge. The only exceptions to this are former Presidents and Vice Presidents, their memories are modified so that they retain the knowledge, however, they can only discuss magic with those who are cleared. This is done so they are in a position to brief and advise their successors."

"That is all well and good," the President said, "but is something for us to discuss in greater detail once we have a handle on what exactly is going on.

"Now, is there anything else we need to discuss right now, before David heads off to meet our British guests?"

Waiting a few moments the Vice President then said, "Not on this end sir."

"Great. Oh Hugh one more thing," the President said, "When you are talking to the base commander tell him to expect us." Picking up an interphone, the President punched a number and ordered the flight deck, "Major Everett, put us down at Groom Lake, we can go on to LAX after I finish some business there."

* * *

_(Monday November 6__th__ 2000, 02:32GMT, 21:32EST (5__th__), 18:32PST (5__th))_

The Minister of Magic for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Amelia Bones was sitting in her office reading the latest in an series of reports dealing with the current muggle crisis she had been forced to acknowledge and help deal with; she initialled the report and tossed it into her outbox, where it shimmered for a moment and then disappeared to wherever reports go. She leaned back in her chair stretching her arms high above her head. Softly sighing she took out her wand and whispered, "_Anois díreach_" looking at the glowing numerals which appeared in the air in front of her she thought, 'twenty-five hours, I've been in this building for over a day now.'

From the reports forwarded to her by her various department heads it was becoming increasingly obvious that there was a new dark lord rising, this time in America, which had implications for the entire wizarding world. Looking at the mural on the wall across from her desk which was currently showing the London night sky she again sighed and thought, 'It's only been two years since Voldemort, this is going to tear us apart all over again, just when I thought we were beginning to improve our world.'

Minister Bones was referring to the various measures she had taken since Voldemort's defeat to bring the wizarding world, often kicking and screaming as it was dragged along, into a more modern setting. She had begun far reaching reforms to government programs in areas such as the education system, bringing true representation and access to all magical beings, and had begun to take steps to reform the Ministry. One of her earliest achievements at the Ministry was to institute merit based hiring and promotions rather than the old blood-purist ways. That there was still significant work to do remained unsaid but she felt that she had finally begun to turn the corner. More importantly, it was finally looking like a majority of the population she was responsible for was beginning to believe in her abilities, and her programs for reform.

'Now this,' she thought, 'If this news gets out into the greater wizardry population it is going to stir up the blood bigots again and then they will be back to their old tricks. I expect we would be seeing black cloaks and masks again within days.'

She bowed her head thinking of all the losses, including some very personal ones, which the wizarding world had suffered during Voldemort's reign of terror, a reign that was very nearly not stopped.

Shaking off her funk she thought, 'I need to finish drafting my preliminary report to the PM, and then send it over before today's COBRA meeting.'

She called out to her assistant, "Katie, I need you to help me finish the draft report for the PM with me."

Katie Bell entered the Minister's inner office carrying a folder. She had been at work for nearly as long as her boss, but she had been able to grab a brief nap earlier that day in the staff room, "Yes Minister, I have the latest draft here." Looking at Minister Bones, and the deep lines of a lack of sleep edged into her face, she continued, "Excuse me Minister, but I think you need to get some sleep. This report isn't due to the PM until ten or so this morning, and you will think better if you have a chance to rest. Why don't you grab a couch down in the staff lounge? I'll put a pot of soup and the kettle on the hob so you can have a quick spot of tea and a bite to eat before kipping down."

The Minister thought for a moment, reflecting on just how tired she was and therefore just how little she would be able to accomplish, before she replied, "You're a dear. I think I will do just that. But be certain to wake me before the rest of the staff get in this morning."

"I will Minister, you head on down, I'll be along after I lock up here."

The Minister stood up from her desk, stretched once more, and after taking a quick look around to make certain that there was no sensitive material left out, headed towards her office door. As she was about to leave she turned to her assistant and said, "Katie."

Katie Bell turned to face her boss and asked, "Yes Minister?"

The Minster paused, unsure of just how she wanted to approach the subject, and then said, "You are familiar with those Weasley boys, the ones with that shop in Diagon Alley?"

Katie blushed; she was very familiar with both of the boys, in particular Fred, "Yes I am Minister."

"Do they ever speak about what happened?"

"Excuse me Minister?"

"What happened between their family and Mr. Potter? From what I can gather he is still friendly with them and the other two boys, but not the parents or their sister."

"It really isn't my story to tell Madam Minister," Katie said and then after a moment's reflection she continued, "But I can say that it goes back to events that happened in Harry's first year and other things that transpired before the final battle. It does explain, I believe, to a great extent why he has essentially left our world."

"Don't worry Katie, I won't press you for any details, it's good to know that we have no worries for now then," Minister Bones said, "he has agreed to work with us for this crisis, and we are far better off with his help. Maybe if he gets a chance to work with us, and see what we are doing, he might reengage our world and finally accept the recognition he's due."

Minister Bones turned and left her office saying, "don't be too long dear, you need to get some sleep also."

Katie Bell, soon to be Katie Weasley – the engagement still not announced yet, thought to herself, 'You can hope for that Minister, but I doubt Harry will ever forgive.'

She finished tidying up the office and locked it before heading down to the staff lounge to prepare a quick meal for herself and her boss.

* * *

_(Monday November 6__th__ 2000, 02:35GMT, 21:35EST (5__th__), 18:35PST (5__th))_

Buffy sat up from the comfortable chair she had claimed for herself and leaned over and gave her lover a quick kiss.

_"Heading out to stretch my legs love."_

_"Sounds good, I'll join you,"_ Willow said as she too got up from her chair.

They had been on the base for over two and a half hours now; they had had a fine dinner and had spent the time discussing magic with their two new colleagues from the AMM. They had been given the opportunity to call home a few times, to check in and to make sure everything was going ok, but time had begun to tell on the two young women. They were not quite at the stir crazy stage, but they were getting there. They had been helped in avoiding that situation by being told by Colonel Ketcheson that they would be allowed to go outside, since night had fallen and they would be unlikely to see anything, or almost as importantly be seen. They were told that they had to stay within the perimeter set by the base guards, but aside from that they were free to wander.

Willow took Buffy's hand as the two of them walked out of the hanger, through the light-lock. The light lock was a small room which, much like an airlock, allowed people to leave the brightly lit hanger to the darkness outside, without spilling any betraying lights. Just as they left the building they paused to kiss under the brilliant star filled sky. The moon had not yet risen, and in the clear desert air the two women could see the majesty of the milky way in its awesome beauty.

Willow said, _"amazing how under that sky the cares of man pale to insignificance."_

_"True, but,"_ Buffy thought.

_"Yes lover?"_

_"It's just that if the demons get their way, all the energy from all those stars will eventually be sucked up into their clutches."_

_"Not if I have anything to say about it," _Willow said with a finality to her thoughts.

As the two women were silently standing under the stars, they were approached by one of the guards who said, "Excuse me ma'am."

Willow looked away from Buffy and said, "Yes sergeant?"

"I've been asked by Mr. Morris to fetch you," the young man replied, "he says that you have a visitor you need to meet."

Willow said, "thank you sergeant," with just a touch of exasperation in her voice. Sighing softly she said to Buffy, "well, let's go see who's here, shall we?"

The two women re-entered the briefing room to see that they had been joined by a man in his apparent forties. He was tall, well over six feet, and had dark brown hair which was beginning to show grey at the temples. He was standing near the dais, talking quietly to Bill Morris and Mike Fisher; Colonel Ketcheson had joined them, but he was standing a respectful distance from the three men, close enough to be helpful but far enough away to not overhear any of their discussions.

Willow and Buffy moved across the room to stand beside the colonel, Buffy saying, "Colonel?"

The colonel turned and said, "Ah, Ms. Summers and Ms. Rosenberg, a member of the President's cabinet has arrived to meet you, and to be here to greet our British Guests."

Bill Morris had noticed the arrival of the two women, motioning to his partner and the gentleman he had been conversing with they moved over.

"Hi Bill," Willow said, "The sergeant said you had someone who you wanted us to meet?"

Bill replied, "Oh, hi Willow, Buffy."

Turning to the newcomer he said, "Let me introduce you to our Minister for Magic, David Jenkens."

Willow shook the man's head and said, "Willow Rosenberg and this is my wife Buffy Summers. We're pleased to meet you."

The Minister smiled as he said, "And I'm extremely pleased to meet you. You and your town have given us quite a shock, and if it were not for this current unpleasantness we would have never discovered you."

Willow smiled disarmingly and said, "Well, your world came as a shock to us too. I have just begun to learn about how we are similar, yet so very different. It will be a fascinating challenge to work with your people."

"I understand that you have children," David Jenkens asked, "may I ask how old?"

Buffy replied, "Yes we do Minister, our ward Samantha is ten, our daughters Kendra and Faith are just under eleven months old and our wives' daughters are just over six months now."

"How wonderful for you," the Minister said, "I understand from Bob and Mike here that you have had fascinating adventures both here on Earth and on this other earth that you mentioned. Once we have a chance I must sit with you and hear all about them."

As the mages were speaking one of the phones in the briefing room began to ring. Colonel Ketcheson moved over and spoke quietly for a few moments before replacing the receiver in the cradle and approaching Director Jenkens.

At the pause in the conversation he said, "Sir that was the tower, your guest are on final approach."

"Excellent," Director Jenkens replied, "how much longer?"

"Ten minutes or so, you may want to go out to the tarmac and watch them come in – it is quite the sight."

Two-hundred and fifty kilometres to the north, and rapidly descending through eight thousand meters, two black jets were almost silent as they continued their descent and began their approach to the air force base. They had been delayed over Hudson Bay due to strong winds; however, they had completed the journey without further incidents and within their time envelope.

Both planes were still rapidly decelerating from their cruising speed, and as they punched past the sound barrier the distinctive double-bang of their shockwaves rattled off the mountains to the west.

The lead pilot scanned his instruments, checking to see that his baby had fully reconfigured to sub-sonic flight conditions before he toggled his microphone and spoke to his passenger, "Sir, we are on final approach, we will be down in about ten minutes or so."

The young man sighed, tried to stretch his cramped muscles within the restraints of both his harness and the pressure suit he was wearing and replied, "Thank you, Major. I must say I have never experienced anything like this, it was one bloody marvellous ride."

Harry had been astonished by the sheer speed of the aircraft. Harry had always loved to fly, but flying in the Aurora was like no other experience he had ever had. Simply being fitted for the pressure suit, and hearing the list of performance capabilities, had not prepared him for the reality of their rocketing to an altitude of over thirty-five thousand meters in less than twenty minutes. Nor had he ever had the experience of having his body weight tripled, since even with pressure suits they still experienced significant g-forces as they rose to altitude. Finally Harry had been able to experience what less than ten thousand people had. He had seen the transition boundary between the atmosphere and near space and the sight of the absolute blackness of the universe framed by the brilliant blue curvature of the Earth below the aircraft.

"You're welcome sir, we are always glad to be of service."

"Will you be heading back right away?"

"No sir, Groom Lake is our home base. I will have a chance to be with the wife and kids for a day or two. The ground techies always want to tinker with the bird after a flight anyways, so unless it is critical we will home base for awhile."

"Must be nice to be with the family Major," Harry said, almost in a whisper.

"Yes sir," the Major replied, "If you will excuse me now, I'm going to be a bit busy till we are on the ground."

The visitors to the airbase stood on the tarmac looking east over the runways all of which were still darkened. Suddenly they heard a double-bang, indicating the transition from supersonic flight, followed almost immediately by a second one.

They shaded their eyes from the glare as 32L and 32R had both their runway lights and their approach landing lights suddenly illuminating the sky. Within a few moments they could see in the approach lights distinct black shapes as the aircraft appeared, and landed with a roar as their spoilers and engine breaks rapidly slowed them to a stop. As soon as the aircraft had completed their run-out the runway and approach lighting systems were extinguished and the planes completed their journeys across the tarmac using only the taxiway lighting which was illuminated in sequence and only as required to move the planes to the hanger.

Hearing a rumble behind her Buffy turned around and saw the massive doors to the hanger opening. The lights had all been extinguished and the interior was lit only by red emergency lights, and the taxiway lights on the floor.

Colonel Ketcheson said, "It's best to go in now," and proceeded to shoo them into the hanger and had them stand out of the way against the wall. "It is very difficult for the pilots to see down, and due to the secrecy of this undertaking we are having them move as quickly as they can to get out of sight. They would not be able to see you before you were run over."

Willow said, "That would certainly ruin the day."

They watched as the two jets were directed into the hanger by their ground controllers and then moved to the far back corner where they were instructed to turn so that their noses were pointing back towards the hanger doors, which had begun to close even as the aircraft had been entering the hanger. The doors finished closing with a soft bang, indicating that that task was completed, and the hanger was once again flooded with light.

The two black jets stood, almost crouched, at the end of the hanger. Steam from the super-cooling systems and engine exhaust vapour mixed as they rose to the top of the cavernous hanger to be collected by the air filtration system. There was a soft hum as the on-board systems slowly powered down. This was accompanied by the small army of ground technicians which chocked the wheels and attached all of the ground monitoring and power linkages.

After a few minutes the top of the cockpits moved up, and then back, revealing two figures in each jet. Access ladders were quickly brought to both jets; ground grew scrambled up the ladders and leaned into the cockpits to first assist in the disarming of the ejection systems and then unhooking the various life support and environmental systems which tethered the plane's occupants. Once completed the crew went back down the ladders to be followed by the pilots and their passengers who once on the ground were assisted by the technicians in removing their helmets and flight gauntlets. As they were being assisted two of the ground crew retrieved the travel bags from the planes and then handed them to the two passengers.

Colonel Ketcheson moved across the hanger to stand before the pilots, who recognizing their commanding officer saluted and then engaged in a brief conversation; when completed the four newcomers followed him back across the hanger to the briefing room.

With a nod of his head David Jenkens motioned for his officers, Buffy and Willow to follow him into the room where they saw the new arrivals go into the change rooms. Twenty minutes later they looked up to see, with the appearance of a young man in the change room doorway, that they were to be shortly joined by Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. They had obviously taken the opportunity to grab quick showers before joining their hosts since his hair was still damp.

Harry paused as he left the change room, to allow for Hermione to catch up. Looking across the room he saw two men, apparently American Aurors, two young women and a middle-age man who tickled his recognition but whom he could not yet place.

As Hermione came up beside him, still shaking the last of the water out of her hair, he softly said as he indicated the group with his chin, "our hosts. Looks like two auror types, the two Americans we're supposed to liaise with and a bureaucrat type. He looks familiar, but I don't place him."

Hermione thought for a moment, running the man's face through her encyclopaedic memory of faces, before placing him, "He's their Minister for magic David Jenkens."

"Ah," exclaimed Harry softly, "thought I recognized him. He was part of their delegation a couple of years ago at one of those bloody awful ceremonies wasn't he?"

"Yes he was. And some of them weren't too bad."

"If you insist love, now shall we join our hosts," he asked as he took her hand and began to walk over to the waiting group.

When they had reached the waiting wizards Jenkens took the lead and said, "Mr. Potter, good to see you again," as he shook his hand before continuing, "not sure you remember but I'm David Jenkens the Minister for Magic here in the States."

Harry said, "Good to meet you sir, I do remember you from that function you attended, what was it… two years ago now?"

"Yes it was Harry," the Director said, "I'm pleased that you remembered."

The Minister went on to complete the introductions finishing with, "and these two young ladies are Ms. Willow Rosenberg and Ms. Buffy Summers, they will be working with you to try to get a grip with what has been going on, and who or what may be responsible."

Hermione looked up at that comment, and asked, "What do you mean by who or what?"

Jenkens replied, "Ms. Rosenberg has provided some additional, very disturbing, information which may be relevant to the terrorist actions on Saturday. I understand that the President discussed this with your PM. Their discussions led to your being sent here, rather than to Washington."

Hermione thought to herself, "That answers a couple of questions." She and Harry had been informed prior to their departure that where they were going had changed; however, they had not been given details as to why.

Willow smiled at the two British wizards and said, "It's a great pleasure to meet you both. I hope that we will be able to find out just what is going on, before anything else happens."

"I hope that we can help," Harry said, "However, I don't want to be too much of a prat about it but I have been on the go for nearly twenty hours now and Hermione for over twenty-four. Do you know where we are going to set up and kip out?"

"We would like it if you stayed with us," Buffy said, "and before you think it's a bother, it isn't. We have a large home with lots of guest room. Mike and Bill here have already agreed to stay; they are apparently going to be our liaison with the American Ministry."

Hermione spoke up, before Harry could even think of a reason to refuse, "we would be delighted to accept your offer."

"Excellent," Willow exclaimed, "we will get the chance to talk about magic and everything."

Turning to Colonel Ketcheson she asked, "Colonel, will we be able to leave soon?"

The colonel looked over to Director Jenkens before replying, "We are waiting for one more arrival. Then it is my understanding that you will be getting a ride with them back to California."

"Ok," Willow replied, "I'll bite, who are we waiting for?"

"My boss," David Jenkens said, "he said he would meet us here and then offer us a lift to LAX. You can go home from there."

"Why meet with the President," Harry asked, a note of suspicion creeping into his voice, "is he just curious, or is their something more?"

"I believe that there may be a bit of curiosity in his visit," David replied, "however, he feels it is very important to meet the people he is trusting to solve this crisis."

"How's that," Buffy asked.

"He is very much a people person," replied the American Minister for magic. "He has a real way of meeting someone and then getting an excellent understanding of them and how they act."

"Regardless of that," Colonel Ketcheson said, "he is my commander in chief and he has asked that you meet with him, so I will arrange for that meeting. This will quickly become moot; however, since I have been advised his plane is on final and will be on the ground in a few minutes."

"Ok," Harry said, "I guess we will meet with another politician. I just hope he is ok with what we are. I hear that some of your groups over here are pretty rabid and radically religious."

Buffy laughed at that, "Oh, I think we can pretty much guarantee that the President is no friend of the religious right over here."

"After the plane lands they will then taxi to this hanger," Colonel Ketcheson said, "they are not planning on staying all that long, so they will want you to board as soon as we have the stairway in place."

Just then they heard the roar of the 747 as it landed, followed by the sound of the reverse thrusters engaging to slow the huge jet down. With that the group left the briefing room and went out onto the tarmac, to watch Air Force One arrive. In the darkness they could see the taxi lights reflecting off of the dark mass of the jet, which had its cabin lights extinguished. It was only by watching the plane's navigation lights that they were aware of its true size.

The jet came to a complete stop some twenty-five meters from the hanger and powered down three of the four engines, leaving the inboard right still running to power the onboard electrical systems and to allow for the quick re-start of the other engines when it was time to depart. A push-back cart was attached to the front landing gear as a set of passenger stairs was brought to the rear entrance of the plane; when in place the door swung open, spilling light across the tarmac.

A young woman rapidly descended the stairs followed in a more sedate manner by two men wearing dark suits. They walked briskly across the tarmac towards the hanger and the group of wizards waiting for them.

Seeing Director Jenkens the woman approached him and said, "Good evening Director. I trust that this is the group that will be accompanying us?"

"Yes Emily," the Director replied before performing quick introductions.

"Excellent," Emily replied. Turning to the group she then said, "If you will be patient for a minute while I explain a few things we can then have you board."

She indicated the two men that followed her saying, "These two gentlemen are agents Ng and Wilkinson. They will give you your security passes once we are aboard and will be your security escorts; however, I should let you know that we are seating you in the press area, which is obviously empty right now, and would suggest rather strongly that you not leave that area unescorted, the agents and the rest of their colleagues aboard will be rather upset and they tend to react rather than ask questions."

Turning to Director Jenkens she then added, "Director, the President has asked that you go forward immediately after boarding to brief him. It is my understanding that he will then want to meet our guests, however, the mechanics for that meeting have not yet been set."

Finally she asked, "Any questions?"

Buffy spoke up saying, "Yes, how long to California?"

Emily said, "knew I forgot something, I believe flight time should be just under two hours."

"Ok, with that settled," Willow commented, "let's go. I'm positive I have a cranky daughter waiting for me."

* * *

_(Monday November 6__th__ 2000, 03:47GMT, 22:47EST (5__th__), 19:47PST (5__th))_

In Sunnydale the vampire Alaina sat alone at a scarred filthy table in a dingy tavern contemplating recent events, and trying to determine a way that she could balance conflicting priorities without experiencing true death.

"Damn," she thought to herself, "I've painted myself into a corner now."

She was referring to the events that had transpired since the meeting the previous day with the leadership of the WRF. As instructed she had gathered the remainder of her strike group and had been able to get them on the train that night to Chicago, where they would have to then transfer to the train for New York City. That had all gone off as planned, and as instructed she had given her most senior operative a series of code words to be used with their counterparts on arrival.

However, as she was heading back to Sunnydale to get ready for her own trip to Seattle she had received word through a cut-out to meet with a contact that had instructions for her from London. Arriving at the meeting's location, in a seedy dockside bar in Sunnydale, she was then instructed by her contact to stay in Sunnydale since one of the senior leaders from London would be arriving in the next few days to investigate the slayer situation and to determine a course of action for all demons in southern California.

"Damn," she thought again while nursing, for appearance sake, a beer, "I'm stuck between two conflicting sets of orders. How am I going to get to Seattle if I have to stay here?"

The conflict tore at her. She was one of the few vampires who was a magic user; since there was some aspect of vampirism which inhibited magic use for most who had been turned. Even wizards who were turned lost, for the most part, their magic. She had been a native shaman and when turned over two hundred year previously had somehow retained her ability to use magic. This had led her to a study of magic and vampires and then to the shadow world of demons where she had been enlightened about the realities of demons and their inter-dimensional empire. She had been convinced that the vast mass of humanity were no better than cattle, to be farmed for the betterment of demon-kind. While working on the development of a demon society to be hidden under the human one in southern California she had discovered the greater magical world, and how certain aspects of it shared her ideas on the servile nature of humanity, and the proper place in that world for non-magic users.

She had slowly been drawn towards a charismatic malcontent who had begun to attract followers from those dissatisfied with the way that the wizarding world kept itself hidden and how it did not, in their opinion, take over and rule like they were destined to do. She had worked her way up to a position of leadership and had been instrumental in developing and implementing the attack which had devastated the non-magical world.

She had been able to do this, while keeping her true masters aware of all her activities, they had encouraged her in her dealings with the rogue mages, since it allowed the demon leadership to keep an eye on the wizarding world and gave them a potential contact, should they wish to interact more aggressively with it.

Now, she had a dilemma. If she failed to go to Seattle she risked losing the trust that Lord Ó hAodha had placed in her, a trust that she may never regain. However, if she failed to stay to meet with the leader, who was risking death in his transit to Sunnydale, she faced the extermination of not only herself but of her entire organization. The demon leaders always took the long view and were ruthless in the enforcement of discipline.

"It's obvious that I have to delay the trip to Seattle," she thought, "but how to make it credible to Lord Ó hAodha. I need a story that I can sell, and that he'll buy."

She thought for a moment before an idea came to her, "I can use one of our compromised cops. I'll have them put out a story that I have been asked to stay in Sunnydale to be interviewed by the FBI or something like that, something to do with my trip to LA just before the attack."

Confident that that ploy would work she stood up from the table and left the tavern to find one of her tame cops.

* * *

_(Monday November 6__th__ 2000, 05:52GMT, 00:52EST, 21:52PST (5__th))_

Air Force One shuddered softly as its main landing gear touched down on runway 25R at Los Angles International Airport. As the converted jumbo jet completed its run-out the wing of escorting fighters pealed off heading north, returning to their base at Edwards. The jet turned right at the end of the runway and was directed to the end of the airport, where security provided by the National Guard was already waiting.

Willow mused as she sat waiting for the jet to come to a stop. The past two hours had been spent primarily discussing the current situation and how wizards were involved. Once they were airborne the President had called them forward to his office, to meet them and to discuss their experiences. He indicated that due to the need to keep the wizarding world as secret as possible that his Government would be following a two part strategy in dealing with the threat. He, and the rest of the visible Government, would continue to state in public that the terrorist threat was most likely caused by radical religious fundamentalist; they would deliberately not indicate if they were Christian, Islamic or any other specific religion so that the media would be left in the dark, therefore chasing shadows and not the real story. Meanwhile, through Director Jenkens, the true investigation would be conducted. President Clinton indicated that his involvement from that point on would be, by necessity and by politics, limited to briefings given to him by the director.

The President then went on to explain what he needed from both the British wizards and the Sunnydale contingent, as he had taken to calling the newly discovered center of magic. He had been in discussions with both the British Prime Minister and the British Minister for Magic, and they had determined that the best approach was for the young wizards to examine in depth the potential connection between wizards and the demons. They were to also try to establish who was in charge of the wizard terrorist organization and if that person was somehow being controlled by the demons. Finally the President asked them to be ready to help Director Jenkens in any containment required, up to and including the elimination of the wizarding terrorists. To facilitate this he was granting the Americans Executive authority to act on his behalf, the British Prime Minister had also done the same for his citizens, and the President was therefore able to grant permission for them to act on US soil. Director Jenkens added that the appropriate paperwork and credentials would be forwarded to them in due time.

Buffy had asked if all this had been rather quickly put into motion, and wasn't the President and his government being rather trusting of a group of people who were essentially unknown factors. The President had replied that circumstance had forced the need for quick action and though the government often worked very slowly that on occasion it could move very rapidly. When asked he had indicated that since Willow had made them aware of the demon threat the day before, and after whatever had been obscuring Sunnydale from official notice had been pierced, the machinery of government had dissected the town and its inhabitants. Over the last twenty hours or so they had learned a great deal about the strange and often truly bizarre things that had occurred, and how Buffy and Willow were the primary reason the damage had been limited. That, said the President, allowed him and his advisors to come to the conclusion that the young women, and those that surrounded them, were to be trusted.

The meeting had concluded at that point and they had then spent the remaining hour or so of the flight getting to know each other and making small talk about their lives and experiences. They had taken the opportunity to learn from their British guests how they had been trained and what their experiences had been in defeating the former Lord Voldemort. They had not discussed specifics; that would come later once they had all had a chance to relax and get some rest.

As the plane came to a halt, and as the engines powered down, Willow stood up and asked, "Ok Mike, now what?"

"Well we need to wait for a moment or two, and then we can go," he replied.

Bill added, "We will apparate from here right to your living room, that way we can avoid any reporters."

Hermione asked, "what about Harry and me, will you come back for us?"

"That is one option," Mike said, "However, if one of you is able to use legilimency I will let you get the coordinates from me, then you can follow along."

Harry looked over at Hermione and silently questioned her, with a nod of her head she indicated that he could go ahead. "I'll do it," he said, "I will then side-along with Hermione."

"Ok then," Mike said, "give me a second here to focus my thoughts." After a moment he indicated, "Go ahead."

Harry silently cast _legilimens_ a moment later he then said, "Got it, ta mate."

Bill then took a hold of Buffy's arm, while Mike and Harry did the same with the others. With a look around he said, "Everyone got their stuff?" With affirmative nods he then added, "Let's go."

The six wizards disappeared from the plane to appear moments later in Willow's house over one hundred and thirty kilometres from the Los Angeles airport.

"Honeys we're home," Buffy called out.

They were shortly joined by Bridie and Aiofe who indicated that the remainder of the household had gone to bed.

Willow said, "That's ok, they can meet our guests in the morning." Then turning to the others she said, "Let's get you settled; Mike, Bill I assume you each need a room?" Receiving answering nods, she then asked, "Hermione, Harry?"

Harry looked over to his best friend and wordlessly asked her. Hermione solved the problem and answered the question by saying, "one will do just fine."

"Great then," Willow said. Let's show you to the rooms then, we can catch-up on everything else in the morning."

* * *

_(Monday November 6__th__ 2000, unknown time) _

A young woman was asleep sitting in an overstuffed leather chair before a roaring fire. The room was elegantly appointed and the fire along with the tapestries hanging on the stone walls cut the chill from the winter wind which was rattling the windows in their casements.

The woman began to toss and fidget in her sleep, mumbling incoherent words, startling the other two occupants in the room. As her body movements became even more violent one of them, an elderly man in his apparent eighties, got up from the table where he had been reading and went over to the young woman to see if there was anything that he could do to calm her.

Just as he reached the woman and before he could touch her shoulder, in an attempt to soothe her movements, she suddenly woke-up wide-eyed, sat up in the chair and yelled, "Demons, demons with humans helping them." She then collapsed back into the chair drawing large gasping breaths.

The sage asked, "Sonya, are you ok? What do you mean about demons?"

The woman replied, "It was a vision Frankel, I saw demons, hordes of demons with humans helping them in battle."

"Are you certain it wasn't a flashback to the battles of last year," asked the third occupant of the room, an incredibly fit young man, who had the air of a warrior about him, "After all, you were in the thick of things, it could be delayed stress over what you saw, and what we did after the majority had been disposed of in January."

"No Daithi, I'm pretty certain it was not one of those battles," Sonya replied, and seeing the questioning looks still in her companions eyes she added, "For one thing, I saw machines which flew through the air, things that have never been seen on this world."

"Ok, for the moment let's accept this as a vision of something to come," Frankel said, "but where? After all we have all but eliminated demons from our world, there hasn't been one sighted in over two months now. It could also be a vision of the far future, when we have forgotten demons again and they have risen to try to take over once more."

"It could be our friends," Daithi postulated.

"That it could," Frankel agreed, "however, we will not figure this out by ourselves. Let's discuss this further in council tomorrow."

"But what can we do," Sonya asked with a small amount of panic in her voice, "There were thousands of them."

"Nothing for the moment child," Frankel replied gently, "we will figure out the truth in what you have seen, and then determine what to do. Now, it is late, I suggest we get some sleep, morning and the council meetings will be soon upon us."

* * *

A/N – thanks all for reading, please review if you have a moment. This is another chapter with additional background information and the setting of the pieces. There will be more action, both loving and fighting, in the next chapter.


	4. Minima Maxima Sunt

Si Chapter IV

Disclaimers:

Buffy, Willow and all of the other characters and places from the show are © to Joss Whedon, UPN and Mutant Enemy etal. Harry, Hermione and the other characters and places from Harry Potter are © to JK Rowling – I am just playing in their sandboxes. There are some historical figures in this, obviously used in a non-historic way. Everyone and everything else is mine. None of my characters are meant to resemble anyone living, dead or un-dead, if you see yourself you are looking way too hard.

Please note that things perceived by characters other than by the five acknowledged senses have been enclosed in _italics_.

Other notes are on my profile page.

Feedback:

Please. And thanks to all who have commented on previous efforts, I appreciate everything that was said. As before, all meaningful criticism, support and suggestions are welcome.

--

**Chapter IV – ****Minima Maxima Sunt**

**(****The smallest things are most important)**

--

_(Monday November 6th 2000, 13:27GMT, 08:27EST, 05:27PST)_

Buffy slowly woke. As was her normal practice she quickly surveyed her surroundings and took note that she was still entwined with Willow and that Bridie and Aiofe were also still in bed. She knew this situation would not last for long and that they would be shortly roused from bed by the hunger of their daughters.

"Getting too old for this," she thought before beginning to extract herself from the grip of her lover.

As she slowly got out of the bed, in order to not disturb the others, she noticed the various piles of clothing scattered around the room. 'Damn, forgot that we were too tired to put anything away last night. Have to call the maid, oh wait, we are the maids.' She thought as she began to pick up the various bits of clothing and toss them into the laundry hamper.

She went into the attached bathroom to start her day knowing that she would hold off on a bath until after her morning exercises; however, she needed to empty her bladder and desperately needed to brush her teeth. As she was finishing she heard the sounds of someone moving in the bedroom.

"_Lover that you?"_

"_Yep"_

"_I didn't wake you, did I?"_

"No you didn't lover," Willow said as she entered the bathroom, and gave Buffy a quick kiss before continuing. "I just rolled over and found an empty place where you were supposed to be, so I got up."

"No damage then."

"Nope, it was time to get up anyway, the alarm was about to go."

"Mechanical or biological?"

"Both. Now why don't you let me finish here while you wake up the others? We can feed the babies before morning exercises then, while having breakfast, we can try to figure out what we do next."

"Yes boss." Buffy said as she left the bathroom.

"Oh, can you take Kendra down for me? I want to go by our guests and invite them down for breakfast, and our workout."

"Will do."

On the other side of the house, in one of the guest rooms, Hermione Granger leisurely entered twilight sleep, as the light from the sunrise slowly pushed into the room. She realized that she was in a strange room and bed; and was in fact in a strange country. She snuggled deeper under the down duvet, half awake and contemplating the last day and a half. It had been a practice of hers since before Hogwarts for her to lie in bed, in a semi wakeful state, before starting the day. She would spend the time reviewing what had happened over the previous day and then categorizing it, ordering it in her mind and then developing strategies for using the information in the best way to meet her goals. When she was young, and innocent, those goals were simple, make friends, get good grades and please her parents. As she got older the goals were made more complicated by adding support Harry and stay alive, only later had she added find love and kill Voldemort to the list.

That she had failed on some level to meet some of her goals was irrelevant to her thinking process, she simply tried harder, learned more and reset the goals. As an example, she had learned at a young age that friends were fickle and only wanted what she could do for them. She therefore re-defined her goals to finding friends that would help and support her; friends she found when she went away to school.

She now began to sort and categorize the information and experiences since she had been called to work early Sunday morning. She quickly realized that she was missing key information. They had been told that the Americans suspected, or knew, that wizards were involved in the terrorist actions on Saturday. They had also been asked to come to the States to advise their ministry on dark wizards, why? Did they know that there was a dark-lord rising, or did they simply suspect it? Then why had they been re-directed to the other side of the country? Granted California was wonderful, and she hadn't been there for years, but why now, and why meet with the two very mysterious, yet very powerful, young women; one of whom seemed to have an innate ability to lead? Over the years she had been able to develop an almost instinctive ability to determine intent from first meeting someone, when she had met Buffy and Willow the night before she had felt their power, and their drive to combat evil, but how were they able to do that? She still had so many questions and so few answers, at least for the moment.

The young woman then turned her mind to the man who was currently pressed up against her side, left arm and leg draped over her body while softly breathing into her hair. Harry had finally admitted that he liked her more than just a friend with benefits, and wanted to build a relationship with her. She had been working on that goal, and him, for over a year now. However, she knew that if she pressed beyond what Harry was willing to accommodate she might very well lose all she had gained. Then there was this current crises, she wanted more than love driven by danger, she needed a partner a life-mate. She resolved to be patient, curb her bossy tendencies and let things develop as naturally as possible. She knew herself well enough that she hoped she would be able to stick with the plan.

She slowly stretched out her legs, trying to get comfortable. Harry had his leg right on top of her bladder and she knew that she would have to get up soon to ease the pressure. After a couple of minutes she realized that her need was becoming critical and she would have to move. She tried to gently slide across the bed, attempting to not disturb him, however, her actions had precisely the counter reaction she was looking for; as she tried to move away Harry simply cuddled closer, and wrapped his arm tighter around her shoulders. She noticed that he had dropped into REM sleep, his eyelids were twitching and there was violent movement of the eyes beneath them.

As he struggled with the demons that haunted his dreams Harry started to wake and let out a soft whimper, "No, don't go."

"Shush baby, I won't go." Hermione gently caressed the side of his face before lightly kissing his forehead.

That seemed to settle Harry, and his eye movements became a bit more sedate, hopefully indicating that his dreams were less troubled.

A few moments later there was a soft knock on the door.

Hermione tried to be a quiet as she could and called out, "Yes?"

Willow could barely hear the word from the other side of the door and replied, "It's Willow. I just wanted to let you know that breakfast will be ready soon. So if the two of you want to come on down you can meet everyone."

"We'll be down in a bit. Just give us a chance to clear the sleep."

"Ok then. If you can't remember from last night, just turn left at the bottom of the stairs and go straight back to the kitchen. Oh, and if you are interested, we will be exercising after we feed the babies, but before we eat."

"Thanks, we'll be down as soon as we can."

Hermione inwardly sighed while thinking, 'exercise, I've shirked off my exercises for weeks now. But Harry will want to do them.'

She shifted her body away from her bed mate and allowed him to roll into the space she had left. As was her normal practice she had slept wearing only a pair of comfortable knickers; as she got out of bed she stretched her arms high overhead, trying to get some of the nocturnal kinks out of her shoulders and back while watching herself critically in the mirror on the dresser across from the bed. She saw her chest relax as she brought her arms back down to her side thinking, 'still firm and perky, and Harry seems to approve.'

Leaning over the bed she softly kissed Harry on his forehead and said, "Harry, love, time to get up."

Harry struggled to wake mumbling, "tired, need sleep."

"Come on sleepyhead. Our hosts have invited us to join them in their exercises before breakfast."

"Exercise?" Harry perked up a bit as he slowly turned over and tried to sit up, "I think I could do with some exercise."

"Men, tell them about sweaty endeavours and suddenly they are awake." Hermione said with a hit of humour in her voice.

"Not the type of sweaty endeavours I really want though."

"That's sweet," the young witch said inwardly exalting at his words, "later I promise. But I'm for the loo and to bush my teeth." Hermione grabbed her night-gown from the end of the bed and throwing it over her naked shoulders moved off to the adjoining bathroom.

"Ok. What time is it?"

"According to the clock, right beside the bed by the way, its half five or so."

"Hey, I'm not lazy, I just depend on you."

Harry leapt from the bed, grabbed his own robe and shrugged it over his naked body. He paused, and like Hermione earlier, mimicked her actions by stretching his arms and watching the move of his toned muscles as they contracted and relaxed with the movements. Scratching his beard he followed his best friend into the bathroom to begin the day.

Coming up behind her, as she stood at the basin finishing the brushing of her teeth, he snuck his arms under her un-tied robe then wrapped them just under her breasts while squeezing lightly before whispering into her ear, "Morning love." He then proceeded to lightly nibble the nape of her neck.

"Harry," Hermione moaned, "stop that. You know it drives me spare."

"Just distracting you; I know you are processing all those unanswered questions in that frightfully organized mind of yours."

"But…"

"No pouting now Mi. Would you want your face to freeze that way? Now, let me finish up here, and then we will go exercise, bathe and I, at least, will shave."

"But…"

"Following that we will all sit down over a nice cuppa and start to try to figure out just what is going on. I'm certain that everyone will be happy to answer your questions."

"But…"

"No more buts," Harry said as he spun Hermione in place to look down on her before softly kissing her, "now scoot on out and get dressed while a man does what a man has to do in the morning."

Looking down at his evidence of a full bladder, and maybe something more, Hermione quipped, "need any help with what you need to do?"

"No, thank-you," Harry replied, his ears turning just a little red, "I can manage."

"Certain are you?"

"Quite, ta Mi."

"Well, I'll just leave you to your… doings then." Hermione said as she left the bathroom mentally scoring another point in the never-ending teasing game that she and Harry had been undergoing for the last few years.

'At least I've been playing since the end of fifth-year; not too certain when Harry began to play,' she thought as she began to dig through her travel bag for clothing suitable for working out in.

Ten minutes later they made there way to the kitchen, just as Willow and the rest of the moms were finishing up feeding their babies. Harry and Hermione were introduced to the rest of the permanent household and once the children had been passed over to Amana and Grael, so that they could be fussed over by the grandparents before being put down for their morning naps, they made their way to the workout room.

Willow and Buffy had converted the ballroom of the house into a gym for their daily routines. The room was over one hundred and twenty square meters in size and, like the rest of the ground floor, had ceilings in excess of three meters. They had left the original inlaid parquet floors alone, simply covering the areas where the exercise equipment had been placed with protective matting. A complete set of weight machines had been installed, along with free-weights and other exercise equipment.

Harry took one look around the room before commenting, "Looks great, everything you need for a full workout."

"Yep," Buffy replied, "our parents really came through in helping Willow and I with the house and setting it up."

"You mean your dad finally got his head out of his ass and realized that he still had a daughter, not to mention grandchildren." Willow said, as she moved out into the middle of the room to begin her stretching routine.

"Well yes, but the others did help also."

Buffy followed her lover and began her stretching routine, Aiofe and Bridie quickly joined them in their now daily routine.

Harry glanced over at Hermione, knowing her true love of all things that involved exercise, and asked, "Joining in?"

Hermione sighed, before replying, "I have to. I've skived off doing this for too long."

"Well take it easy and don't try too much at first."

Twenty minutes of stretching was followed by nearly forty minutes of weight work in which they alternated working the upper and lower body.

At the end of the weight session Willow looked over at her house guests and said, "Bridie and Aiofe usually finish now with some cool down stretches. Buffy and I continue with some sparing. What's your preference?"

Hermione looked over at Harry who was bouncing on his feet like an over-charged rabbit and said, "I'll pass on the sparring, thanks. But bouncy-boy over there would probably like the chance to burn off some more energy."

"Weapons, hand-to-hand or magic," Harry commented.

"Well then, for today, I'll leave it to you and slay girl," Willow said, "I will cool down with the others and watch the fireworks." Willow collected the others with a nod of her head and moved them over to one side of the room so they would be out of the way.

"I know nothing about any type of magic sparing," Buffy commented, "But I'll be happy to work out with you on any of the others."

"Is that true?" Hermione asked the others as they began their cool-down, "you don't do any type of magical sparing?"

"Never learned," Willow replied. "Since we have been, for the most part, self taught that type of opportunity has never come about. One more thing we will have to discuss."

On the other side of the room Harry and Buffy had been conversing quietly, discussing their respective training and which disciplines each of them would be comfortable using. As they reached consensus Buffy opened a wardrobe, reached into it and then began to hand Harry several pieces of protective gear.

"Oh goodie," Bridie exclaimed, "Krav Maga!"

"Krav Maga?" Hermione asked, "Do I dare ask what that is?"

"It's an Israeli form of military self defense. It is also the only one that Buffy uses any type of protective gear for." Willow replied, as the four women watched while Buffy and Harry proceeded to take off their shoes and socks before proceeding to don padded head gear, groin protection, chest protection in addition to the normal protection for legs, arms and gauntlets for the wrists and back of the hands. Finally they put on their neck protectors and inserted their mouth guards.

"Brutal then?" Hermione asked, "Looks like they are getting dressed for ice hockey."

"Very. With no holds barred, and everything goes. Buffy will be happy even though it is the only form of combat training that has ever resulted in an injury to her, padding notwithstanding. I do not particularly like this form of sparing but Buffy says that it is the closest thing to fighting demons."

"Should be interesting then; but I do wonder where Harry learned it."

"From the military or police," Willow replied, "the Israeli military has been training elite police forces in their methods, same with the military Special Forces units. Buffy learned it by training with the FBI tactical team here in town."

"Hum," the English witch muttered while thinking, 'ok, I am going to have to ask him some very pointed questions later.'

"This is going to be fun," Aiofe said as she watched Buffy take out a number of shinais from the storage cupboard, "I don't remember the last time she went right to the swords to begin with."

"_This going to be ok?"_ Willow asked her lover. _"Am I going to need to call the paramedics?"_

"_Fine, just fine,"_ Buffy bubbled back through their link, _"Harry mentioned that he trains with the SAS this way at least twice a week. Relax; this is going to be fun."_

"_Your kind of fun generally leads to broken bones and lots of bruises."_

"_I heal quickly."_

"_I didn't mean for you silly."_

"_Harry said he could handle it."_

"_Ok, then. Don't hurt our guest too badly then."_

The two combatants each grabbed two of the shinais and moved to the center of the room. Harry turned to the four women and said, "Hermione, please be a dear and just in case put up a shield."

"No problem," Hermione replied, releasing her wand from its disillusioned wrist holder and doing just that, resulting in a shimmering field spanning the room from floor to ceiling. "Why do you need a shield?"

"Buffy mentioned that she can use magic to partly shield herself. I am going to do the same thing, so I just wanted to be careful that nothing spins off one of them and heads your way."

Harry turned back to face Buffy; centering himself he looked at his opponent and then gracefully bowed towards her. Just as he was finishing the bow he sensed the approach of Buffy's shinai rushing towards his head. Inwardly smiling he thought to himself, 'this is going to be fun' as he rolled forward out of his bow to avoid being hit. He then launched an attack of his own by striking out with his left leg, aiming for her kneecap.

Buffy had already moved out of the way, by moving through her strike, and was already following up her first attack with another attempt to strike at Harry's head. As her blow descended it bounced off of a shield that he had generated. Harry took the momentary break in Buffy's attack to continue out of his roll and to twist in the air as he jumped up to face her.

"You're very quick," he commented as he lashed out with a combination of strikes.

"Slayer enhanced," Buffy quipped, as she blocked and parried his attacks, "You're not too shabby yourself."

"Thank you," Harry replied, "Magic is wonderful." He then proceeded to jump into the air rolling over her head to strike down at her back. Unfortunately he only managed to ring the strikes of his bamboo swords off of her shield.

"Two can shield" was her only comment as she spun around to block his follow-up strike.

"Touché."

With those preliminaries completed the four young women were treated with an exhibition of fighting techniques that alternatively stunned, awed and terrified them. Several times they gasped as blows landed which would have incapacitated a normal person; however, neither Buffy nor Harry had appeared to have been affected by them.

After nearly twenty minutes of non-stop action both combatants suddenly stopped, faced each other and bowed before dropping to the floor.

"Good fight," Harry panted while drawing huge volumes of air into his lungs "thought I had you there once or twice."

"Yep," was the eloquent reply from his equally winded opponent, "likewise, I though you were down for the count just before you rolled away there at the end."

"Harry James Potter, you have some explaining to do." Hermione fumed as she stood up and banished her shield with a wordless flick of her wand.

"Can it wait Mi?" Harry asked as he stood up and offered a hand so that Buffy could also get up from the floor.

"Ok, but I need to know when you learned that."

"You will. Have I ever been able to keep you from figuring out something once you've set your mind to it? Or, for that matter, stopping you from being able to get me to tell you anything?" Harry sighed, still feeling the effects of one of the most exhaustive workouts he had ever undertaken.

"No, you haven't Harry," Hermione smiled as she went over to her friend and began to help him with taking off his protective gear.

As Harry removed each of the various pieces of equipment he was wearing he handed them to Hermione. She proceeded to clean and dry each piece by waving her wand over it; she then gestured with her free hand which sent each piece back to the to storage wardrobe.

Willow had come up and supported Buffy as she too began to strip off various pieces of protective equipment. "You ok lover? I've never seen anyone able to keep up with you, let alone not be defeated by you."

"Fine, I'm just fine." Buffy replied as she continued to remove her equipment, "I have so much to learn."

"Huh?"

"Magic, love, magic," Buffy replied, "I have superior speed and reflexes, that much was pretty obvious, however, he was able to keep up with my reflexes with magic. I don't know if you caught it but he was doing this semi-blurring thing which kept me from landing some blows. But it's his almost instinctive use of magic in shields. That's where I was nearly caught. I need to concentrate on my shields to keep them where I want and he doesn't."

"How's that?" The American witch asked, as she tried to both help her lover and watch the casual way her guests used magic in performing everyday tasks.

"Later love, I need to stretch out and then I need a bath in the worst way. We can discuss all this over breakfast."

"_Ok then. Now, don't forget to put away your toys again."_

"_Promise. But it would be nice to be able to do whatever Hermione is doing. That looks really useful."_

"_I'll ask Hermione if she can do it for us this time, and maybe teach us later."_ Turning to the English witch Willow asked, "Hermione, if its not too much trouble could you do whatever you are doing for Buffy's equipment also, and then maybe later teach us how to do it?"

"No problem," with a couple of charms Hermione quickly cleaned the equipment and sent it back to the wardrobe. "When we get a chance we will need to find a wand maker and get all of you wands, that way we can at least begin to teach you the basics."

"Thank-you," Willow replied before adding, "Do I really need a wand, since most of what I've done is without one?"

"Why don't we leave theory discussion for now," Harry said as he went into a tai-chi routine to cool down, "there are a lot of different aspects of magic we will need to discuss with all of you, and I, for one, think that having a bite to eat and a good cuppa will help before we start doing that."

"I agree," added Buffy as she too started her cool down, unlike the British wizard she used a more traditional stretching routine. "Willow, love, why don't you and the others take Hermione to the bath and we'll join you there in ten minutes or so, once we have finished our cool down."

"Sounds good," the arch-mage replied and gathering up the others she left the training room.

Ten minutes later Buffy and Harry made their way to the main bath of the house. On the way Buffy described some of the renovations that had been done to the house, to make it more family friendly and adaptable to the work that she and Willow were doing.

As they crossed through the kitchen Buffy paused to give each of the babies a quick kiss on the forehead. She then turned to Harry and said, "Our bath is very open, yet private."

"Oh?"

"It's almost like a Japanese onsen, in that we have a private area to scrub down and then rinse off the soap. Then we have a large communal soaking tub which has very hot water."

"Sounds relaxing, but I hear a catch in this."

"Well, up to now it's been only used by family, or quasi-family like the grandparents and other members of Willow's coven."

"Yes?"

"Well, to not to put a too big an emphasis on things, the hot tub is huge, nearly twelve square meters or so, deep and easily holds ten or more; and in the traditional manner we all soak naked. Will that be a problem?"

"Not for me, nor I think for you and your wives. Hermione may be a little embarrassed, but if she is already in the bath it will be ok, I think."

They entered the bath area to see that the others had already made their way into the soaking tub. They went over to the side of the room where the cubicles for soaping and rinsing had been built. Quickly stripping off their clothes they then washed and rinsed off the soap. Buffy grabbed a towel from the airing cupboard and then walked across the hardwood floor before easing gracefully into the steaming water. Harry, with some modesty, wrapped his towel around his waist and just before joining the others in the water dropped it to the floor. He then moved across the bath to sit beside between Hermione and Aiofe.

The Americans could not help but notice, as he entered the water and as he moved to sit down, that his chest, arms and back were all covered with countless scars. There were wounds from appeared to be knives and bullets. However, there was also a series of criss-crossing scars that covered his back, almost as if he had been scourged at some point in his life. His chest had a jagged pink scar crossing from just below his left collar bone to finish just under his right rib-cage. Both arms had numerous defensive scars and what appeared to be a number of burn scars. It also appeared that at a point in his life one of the bones in his left arm had punctured the skin.

Before anyone could comment he said, "Too many stories to tell right now. I would appreciate if you respect my privacy on this, I will tell some of it in time."

"I won't break his confidences either," Hermione added, "it is truly his story to tell, when and if he feels it necessary to be told."

"We'll respect your privacy," Willow replied for the group, "I'll also let the others know to keep any comments to themselves."

"Ta," Harry softly replied, "It's not as if I'm embarrassed by them, obviously. It is just that talking about them brings back some painful memories."

Pausing for a moment to lean back and stretch out his legs he then continued, "I think that dealing with this current crisis is going to bring back enough nightmares as it is." Reaching over to clasp Hermione's hand he said, "Mi here is one of the few people that I can trust to help me with them."

"We all have scars, not all of them are visible," Buffy said as she too leaned over to hold her lover's hand. "Now, to move to a less awkward subject real life; Grael said that they have announced the schools will be closed for the week."

"Or longer," added Bridie, "They still are trying to get a hold of the situation."

"We'll deal, just like always," Willow said as she stood up, grabbed her towel and left the bath. "Come now, I think its time to grab some breakfast."

"I'll be along in a few minute love," Buffy said, "I need to soak some more."

"Ok then, why don't you and Harry stay and relax. We will see you when you have soaked."

Seeing that her best friend had a faraway look in his eyes Hermione softly asked, "You'll be ok then Harry?"

"Yes Mi. I'll be just fine."

--

_(Monday November 6th 2000, 15:45GMT, 10:45EST, 07:45PST)_

In the nation's capital a blitz of information, and miss-information, was being released by the White House and other government agencies. The news that domestic air travel would recommence the next day had gone a long way to appease public concerns. In addition, news from the west coast that the President was heading back east to Arkansas to vote in the election also helped to ease public anxiety and concerns. Various departments and agencies were issuing press releases covering all aspects of the new security requirements which would be in place at the airports. Other releases covering memorial services, investigations and other aspects of the government's damage control were flying into newsrooms across the country on an hourly basis. Every department had sent out teams of spokes-people to blitz the morning shows and cable news outlets with the official spin on what had happened and what the government was doing to bring things back to a semblance of normality.

The schools, banks, Wall Street and all government offices would remain closed for the week. In addition, most major business and industries had also closed; some had indicated that they would remain closed until after the election, while others would restart operations on the following Monday. The major sports leagues had all said that they would be resuming play by Thursday, once air travel could resume; they had all confirmed that the games which had been cancelled since the previous Saturday would be rescheduled.

The vice president had left Washington before dawn to continue his campaign. He was on a day long blitz of the key states of Florida and Ohio before finishing in his home state of Tennessee, which, unexpectedly, was still in contention. To avoid any perception of preferential treatment Governor Bush had also been given permission to use air travel so that he could also complete his campaigning. He had been caught by the travel ban in New York; he had, however, been able to travel by train to Boston. The running mates had been likewise been allowed to continue their campaign trips so that they could also finish in their respective home states prior to Election Day.

The public pundits on all of the cable news networks had raised significant concerns with the upcoming elections and how, with the air travel ban, some of the voters would not be able to exercise their franchise. There had been a number of telephone conference calls between the various state electoral officers over the last day to address this issue. The resumption of travel at midday Eastern Time was greeted with applause by their offices since this would allow for the majority of travellers to get to their destinations before the close of polling. To help with the turnout most of the states in the eastern half of the country had also ordered that the polling stations remain open for at least an additional two or three hours. The so called 'experts' were all split on the effect of the tragedy on the election; some claiming that it would keep people from voting while others held that the nation would draw together and combined with the virtual shutdown of the country would result in the largest turn-out of voters in years.

The election itself would be going down to the wire. The national polling data indicated that the two primary candidates had nearly forty eight percent of the vote each. The effect of Ralph Nader on the electorate was difficult to gauge, since he was only on the ballot in forty four of the states. In some critical locations he appeared to be bleeding support from the Democrats, in others it appeared as if he would not be a factor. Governor Bush had commanding leads in the south and west of the country, vice president Gore in the east, central and west coast. There were only two or three states where the race could even be considered to be contested, and those states had had countless visits, dollars and efforts spent on them since early October in a last ditch attempt by both parties to win the election.

--

_(Monday November 6th 2000, 16:10GMT, 11:10EST, 08:45PST)_

In Sunnydale Harry Potter looked around the large kitchen table at the other members of what the President had called his MIS, or Magical Investigation Section. Reporting to the President through Director Jenkens the small group of Americans and Brits had been tasked with determining just who the leaders of the terrorist attack were, what their goals were and if they had additional plans.

They had spent their time over breakfast discussing their histories, and Willow had taken the opportunity to fully brief Harry and Hermione about the demon threat and the difficulties that that may entail. Willow and Amana had also taken some time to discuss magic, and how their traditions were practiced. They understood that the American wizards from the ministry had very similar traditions and training to the British, so they felt that sketching an outline of the training that Willow and the others had undertaken, and describing some of their abilities and powers, would be instructive. They knew that detailed discussions on magic would occur in the future, but they felt it was important to at least lay out some of the basic information.

Harry and Hermione, for their parts, had then disused the rise and fall of Voldemort. Bill Morris and Mike Fisher had both paid careful attention to those details. The defeat of the dark lord had been discussed by the entire American magical community, however, there had been almost no specific information provided to the American ministry by their British counterpart. In fact the British ministry had failed to provide sufficient details to any members of the international community. They had then discussed the specific roles that the President had given them, and what he expected them to accomplish.

As they finished their preliminary discussions Harry paused, ran his hands through his still damp hair, and then looking at the others simply said, "We're going to need help."

"How's that?" Buffy asked. "And what type of help?"

"They way I see it is as follows." Harry said, looking around the table at the others who were encouraging him to continue. "First, we have this group of terrorists, probably magical although that is yet to be confirmed, with unknown objectives, goals, leadership and location. Second, we have this problem you have identified with demons and a potential trans-dimensional threat. Third, we have to consider that if these two problems are not already linked, that they may become so, and this is obviously a major concern of your ministry and the mundane government since they re-directed Hermione and myself here. Finally we need to do this while working with two similar yet different traditions and while keeping this all away from the notice of the normal population."

"Big jobs," Willow agreed, "and, though I hate to admit it, I have to agree that we may be a bit out of our depth here. Also, I'm certain that once we leave Sunnydale our ability to work almost without notice will be limited and that is going to impact on how we operate, for some reason, probably due to the influence of the hellmouth, people just do not pay attention to anything not 'normal' around this area."

"Let's focus people, and take stock of who we have as resources, what we need to do and then what resources we may need."

"Channelling your father much Buffy," Willow said with a smile, "that was reasoned and logical."

"I try," the slayer dryly replied.

"And I love you for it." Willow dropped into leadership mode and then continued, "Ok, let's take those items one by one.

"First, as human resources we have the twelve of us. Then we can add Giles and Susan to that, at least in a research capacity since they do have the store to run."

"We can add the potentials to the mix also," Buffy added.

"Potentials?" Hermione asked, "I've heard you refer to them, but I'm still unclear on who you are referring to."

"Potential slayers," Buffy replied. "Willow and I quickly figured out last year that the idea of only one slayer at a time was pretty lame."

"Well, having nearly a dozen show up on the doorstep all at once sorta confirmed that also," added Bridie helpfully.

"Yes well," continued the arch-mage, "Once we arrived back home and got settled I figured out a way to put out a magical call for the potentials here on Earth."

"Leading to the noted arrival on doorstep," Aiofe said.

"So that gives us another dozen helpers. Now, most of them are not magical, at least not magical like we are, but they all have slayer abilities like the speed, reflexes and enhanced healing."

"That will help once we figure out exactly what is going on, and the scope of our problem," Hermione said, "But if there is significant number of magic users Harry is right, we are going to need help."

"How's that?" Willow asked, anxious to get additional information on the differences between her type of magic and the type practiced by Harry and the others.

"Now this is just a preliminary assessment," the British witch said, "and might not be all that accurate."

"Not bloody likely."

"Language Harry. Now, to continue without any further sarcasm; Willow, from what you have told us I believe that your magic is focused on two things; ritual based magic using the power raised in circle and through your coven and secondly magic based on the expression of your will and power."

"I guess you can categorize my use of magic that way."

"Now from what I've been able to read over the years about ritual magic it appears that it is very formal and tends to follow a strict structure."

"That is correct, in circle I do use the very formal practices which I was taught, some of these practices can have their roots traced back for over two thousand years."

"Exactly," Hermione excitedly exclaimed, "But, from what you have told us your use of magic outside of a circle is very different."

"Yes, I tend to be far less formal and I depend on words and gestures to help me achieve the results I am looking for."

"Hence the difficulty, Harry and I were alluding to."

Harry poured Hermione and himself another cup of tea before continuing, "What Mi is trying to say is that if this group of terrorists has a significant number of magic users who have been trained like we have been we may very well have a problem with their magic speed and reflexes."

Seeing that that did not help answer the unasked questions he continued, "Your magic use outside of rituals is what we would describe as wandless, and in some cases wordless. In that you do not need to use a wand, specific motions and specific words to allow your will to be expressed.

"This is extremely difficult to do and is an indication that all of you are extremely powerful and that you all have incredible mental focus."

"Harry's right," Mike said, "the majority of magic users never reach that level of capability. Most of us learn to perform magic by following a set of routine steps, motions and words and our improvements are measured by how precisely we have mastered the steps and then by how quickly we can perform them. Those that do have the ability for non-wand based magic are usually limited to very simple spells."

"That is what held me back for so long," Hermione added, "I was very concerned about memorizing the steps and words."

"Fanatic," interjected Harry unhelpfully.

"Fanatic then," she agreed, "that when we started to try to master wordless and wandless magic I was unable to get any results for the longest time."

"All this is to say," Harry continued, "that well trained magic users will have a collection of spells that they can cast very quickly, sometimes they can even chain cast by cascading one spell into a second and so on. The movements and words have become memory imprinted, and they rarely need to think through an attack.

"In a fight Willow this will give them an advantage over you. You are still at the point where you are thinking, then casting."

"There is also the power issue," Hermione added.

"What is that and how is that important?" Buffy asked.

"Each of us has a set amount of magical reserves or power which your will taps into in order to cast a spell," the British witch replied, "those reserves are re-charged in time, but in a fight once you are tapped out you are done. The advantage with wandless and wordless magic is that they are fiendishly difficult to counter since you are not advertising the spell you are casting; the disadvantage is that they tend to use more of your reserves to cast. So in a fight if you are not using your wand you may not be able to last as long as those that are using one.

"No one is really certain why that is," she continued. "That is one of the major mysteries in our world that has yet to be solved."

"So that is why you suggested us getting wands," Willow commented, "even though the six of us all perform magic now without one, by getting one we can potentially do more and last longer in a fight?"

"Exactly, and even for most of us that can do wandless magic a wand does give more control for finer magic, especially conjuring and transfiguration."

"So, if I can summarize this issue," Willow said, "if we have to face a large number of trained magic users we might be at a disadvantage in the magic department, even though we have raw power, talent and some ability on our side?"

"That's it," Harry agreed.

"Ok then let's table that concern for the moment, at least until we have a better understanding of what and who we are working against," Willow then continued, "To help us do that we can use the potentials as investigators. They can spend some time checking things out, and running down leads."

"It will probably mean moving some of them to other locations," Buffy added, "But that's ok, we will need to set up a way to communicate but that should not be too difficult."

"We can help there," Bill offered, "You are all going to be provided with credentials which will give you access to law-enforcement assistance and communications tools. We will just get clearance from head office for your potentials to be added to the list."

"Also," Mike added, "you've indicated that your potentials do not check out as magic users from your perspective, however, they might just be magic users from ours. That would go a long way to helping us in the manpower department and also give them access to other methods of communication."

"Lack of training though," Harry commented, "but if we get some time we could do some basic work."

"That plus their slayer abilities might just give them the edge to compensate for their lack of experience," Buffy said.

Harry, recalling the sparing match he had just completed, said, "those slayer abilities of yours are formidable. I have never seen a person move as quickly as you do or take as much damage. Could one of you outline some of those abilities for us? For example, do all slayers have whacking great sword tattoos on their chests?"

Willow laughed before answering, "no that is special and only for my lady love."

"Well, to get it I did make a few promises, and it has caused me a few problems."

"Yes you did, and yes it has." Willow said, "But to be truthful you haven't gone into a berserker rage recently."

"No cause to."

Seeing the confused expressions on both Harry and Hermione Grael took the opportunity to educate the non-Sunnydale residents on the abilities of slayers. "First before we talk about Buffy and the potentials abilities some background. From what we have been able to determine slayers are a world's response to the threat of demons. To put it into a metaphysical construct, if demons and their human slaves and constructs are the embodiment of evil then slayers are one of, if not the major, counterbalancing forces for good. Now, in seeing slayers in that light we can come to understand how they have been augmented to fight demons."

"When we first met Buffy," Amana continued, "we thought that the so-called 'watcher's council' had somehow genetically engineered the changes in Buffy while she was a foetus; now we think that some other mechanism is in play since we know the council is a demon front."

"My abilities are both physical and mental," Buffy supplied, "Physical in that my fellow slayers and I are stronger than just about any human, vampire or demon. As you know my reflexes and agility are also faster than a normal and I heal very quickly."

"How quick, since that could be very important?" Harry asked.

"My bite marks are usually gone by morning," Willow supplied, "it is almost impossible for her to bruise or break a bone; but she can be shot or stabbed, its just that she will heal in a day or so.

"She has had prophetic dreams and often shares her dreams with other slayers both living, dead and sometimes I think future ones. She also has an improved awareness of her surroundings, which allows her to fight in the dark or if blinded. It also can let her know if vampires or demons are around."

"My 'spidey-sense' starts to tingle," Buffy volunteered.

"Given all that," Amana said, "is what led us to believe that she had been genetically engineered. Now, we just do not know what happens to give a potential those abilities. We have been working closely with the ones that Willow called, and in their training we are seeing the daily improvements in all of their abilities."

"Almost as if there was an outside influence on them," Grael said. "When they first appeared they were just normal kids, showing no signs of slayer abilities; now, after a few months of training, they are all beginning to show them."

"And since we know conclusively that there is a force for good," Willow said, "we assume that She is somehow doing this."

"She," Hermione asked, "I heard the capital s; who is that?"

"The Goddess," Buffy replied.

"Ok I'll bite," Bill said, "how do you know that this Goddess truly exists as a manifestation other than spiritual?"

"Simple," Buffy said, "we've met, and she gave me this tattoo and the non-colourable streak of white in my hair when she made me her avatar."

"This is looking very promising then," Harry said, "with you Buffy and your potentials we have an excellent reaction force should these demons you are worried about actually be involved in the attacks."

"Won't help all that much against magic users, love."

"You're right Mi, but as Willow has said let's cross that bridge later if we need to."

"Now to look at some of our other questions," Willow said, "If I understand correctly the one terrorist that failed in their mission was from the Sunnydale area?"

"That's correct," Mike replied, "as we told you yesterday he had been living here for at least a year."

"Where?" Willow asked, "If we know that it might help us pinpoint who or what he was getting help from."

"He was renting an apartment on the eastside."

"The industrial area of town," Buffy commented, "where we've been seeing an increase in unwanted activity and where I've been beefing up my patrols. Not all that many vamps, but a lot of demon boys."

"Have we been able to get anything else out of this guy?" Willow asked.

"I checked with the office in LA when the lot of you were exercising," Mike answered, "most of what he knows is still not accessible through the blocks put on his memories, but it does appear that he was not the only one who had taken up residence here."

"That puts a different spin on things," Buffy said, "one magic using bad guy taking up residence in a town off your radar could be coincidence, more than one could be by design."

"And that means they, or someone who set this up, know about Sunnydale and what happens here," Willow continued.

"Which could mean that they therefore know about the demons and the hellmouth," concluded Buffy.

"Spooky," was Hermione's only comment.

"You get used to it," Bridie said, somewhat unhelpfully.

"Goes with the bond," Aiofe added.

"Bond?"

"Yes Harry bond," Willow replied. "When my lover here took some unprecedented actions to save my life she inadvertently created a bond between the two of us. Except for some areas where we have deliberately created an area of privacy we have essentially one mind."

"Like a soul bond," Hermione commented, "not unknown, but very rare. Is it affected by distance?"

"Not that we've been able to determine," Buffy replied, "although, to be honest, we can't seem to be that far apart; the furthest we've been is maybe a couple of kilometres or so."

"We might want to test that a little bit," Bill said, "if you can continue to communicate over a greater distance it would be the ultimate in secure communications."

"We can look into that later," Willow stated firmly, "Right now we need to concentrate on this terrorist.

"Now, before the babies demand our attention, and before we are inundated with potentials coming by for their training we should outline the next couple of days. This is what I suggest.

"Buff, you and Harry should patrol the eastside again tonight. Try to find, but not kill one or two of the less savoury residents and see if they can tell us if a strange group of humans had been there and have recently vacated."

"Works for me."

"Then, based on that information we can then plan out some avenues for investigation."

"What about the rest of us?" Hermione asked.

Willow replied, "Well tonight we can continue our discussions on magic and our respective histories while the brawn goes out to play. Then maybe we can lay out a schedule for training and evaluation."

"Don't forget tomorrow is voting day," Mike said.

"Nope, didn't forget," Willow said, "And with everything closed we might take the opportunity to grab Giles and Susan and the kids and maybe hit the beach. Water will be cold but it is supposed to be sunny."

"That is a great idea," Turning to his partner Mike then continued, "Bill, we could take the opportunity to liaise with the local police, establish our credentials and set up some lines of communication."

"Sounds like a plan. Maybe in the afternoon we can all head to LA, and the magic district in Hollywood. Unlikely they would be closed and we can see if we can get this group set up with the basics."

"Ok then," Willow said as she got up from the table and bussed her dishes, "That sounds like a great idea. Now, let's get the kids and then get lunch on the go. Buffy you'll have the potentials showing up probably just after we eat, Hermione and Harry might be interested to see them and help evaluate their training and potential."

_(Tuesday November 7__th__ 2000, 04:51GMT, 23:51EST (6__th__), 20:51PST (6__th__))_

Later that day, nearly four hours after sunset, Buffy and Harry were on their patrol. They were cruising the streets and alleys of the industrial eastside of town, trying to find a demon or two who could then persuade to talk. They had begun their search just before dusk and had so far come up empty; it was as if all of the town's non-human denizens had decided to take the night off. Currently they were walking through a residential section of the area, the soft glows of lights from the houses throwing some illumination onto the otherwise dark streets.

"Well this has been a bust," the slayer commented, "the one night I actually want one of these scumbags to show up is therefore the one they all decide to stay home and polish their horns."

"There isn't even any ambient or active magic being used; at least none that I can detect. So there are no concealing charms being used."

"Now that would be useful. How difficult is it to detect something that has been concealed?"

"It really depends on the power of the mage, and the size of what they are trying to hide."

"Oh, I see," the slayer commented, "It must be volume versus power type of thing. Is it exponential?"

"Yes, it's a cube function. Most wizards are able to hide a volume which encompasses their bodies and maybe a few centimetres beyond. There are specialized charms that can hide large volumes, but for them to function they need to be tied into rune clusters, which are then tied to power taps."

"There you've gone and lost me."

"I'm sorry," Harry replied with a slight smile, "I keep forgetting that you are behind on the theory aspects of magic. To simplify, hidden things are usually people, and then only one at a time. In detecting magic you then look for where there are distortions in the weave of power. Most magic users are not able to see that weave."

"But you are?

"I am not most people. Willow strikes me as perhaps having the innate ability also. Maybe you too."

"Huh?"

"Well, your power aura is very similar to Mi's; she was able to pick-up the ability with practice, so there is no reason you couldn't also. Willow on the other hand has, as you would expect, a much stronger aura therefore would have an even easier time."

"That would prove to be useful since I've often had a feeling that there was things hidden, just beyond what I was able to perceive." Just then the slayer felt a very familiar itch, "hang on a sec, my early warning system is tingling. Vamp, more than one and they are coming this way."

"Anything I need to know other than the basics?"

"I assume you can resist their compulsion."

"That won't be a problem, believe me."

"Then everything should be ok, we'll split up a little bit, and then simply divide and conquer."

Buffy turned and looked across the street at a small early post-war bungalow. It, in contrast to all of its neighbours, was totally dark and from what she could determine the windows and doors had been loosely covered by boards.

"Over there across the street," she commented, "looks like we have a vamp nest."

"And here are some of the occupants," Harry added seeing four humanoid figures appear from around the side of the house. He slowly moved away from the slayer, so that each of them could act independently, without having to worry about getting in the way of the other.

"Oh look, lunch," the vampire leader snarled as the four of them vamped out to display their demon faces.

"They do make them dumb," the slayer said, then added. "It doesn't matter how long I've been doing this, it still stuns me just how dumb they can be. Remember Harry we do want to keep one of them alive for a bit. So we can get our questions answered."

"Who are you calling dumb, bitch?" The leader asked before continuing, "You are a pretty one, I was going to turn you and then keep you as a play toy, but with your attitude now I'm just going to drain you dry."

Buffy looked at the vampire as she slowly closed the distance between them and said, "You are one dumb asshole. Here I am a human and I'm not running in terror from you idiots, in fact I'm moving closer to you; now what would that tell a vampire with brains?"

The vampires milled about in confusion, this was not the normal course of events. As one they turned to the two humans and released their full powers of coercion, trying to compel them to submit.

"That won't work either moron," Buffy called as she leaped towards the nearest vampire and with a round-house kick nearly took his head off his shoulders. The vampire dropped, unconscious, to the ground.

Simultaneously Harry wordlessly cast a spell which resulted in ropes of chain flying from his hands and wrapping themselves tightly around a vampire; unable to maintain his balance he fell to the ground with a clang. Walking up to his captive he gestured, almost as if he was brushing off a fly, resulting in another vampire flying across the lawn to impact the side of the house, about six feet off the ground; hitting hard enough to crack the siding it slowly slid down the wall to lie in an unconscious heap on the ground ribcage and several other bones crushed.

The last vampire, seeing the utter destruction of his companions in less than five seconds, turned and began to flee.

"Not so fast fangy," Buffy yelled as she reached to her belt, where she had a number of stakes attached in a specialized holder. Running after her prey she quickly reached the vampire and grabbing him with her left hand quickly spun him around. As he turned to face her she struck quickly with the stake in her right hand. Piercing the vampire's chest and heart he quickly turned to dust.

'Dust-buster time,' she thought to herself as she turned back to help finish off the other vampires.

Harry, after ensuring that the bound vampire would not be going anywhere, had turned his attention to the vampire he had banished into the house. He had regained consciousness quickly and had quickly leapt to his feet and with an inarticulate roar he spotted the young wizard and leaped towards him, intending to rip Harry's arms from his body.

Harry quickly conjured a shield and watched with some amusement as the vampire bounced off of it to land on the ground on his ass.

"That is one of your problems you know?"

Not receiving an articulate reply he continued, "No ability to plan or think beyond what has worked before."

The vampire screamed in rage as he impotently tried to break through the invisible shield to kill the human.

"Here you go," Harry said a little smirk crossing his face, "you are faced with something you can not control. An adversary who is not afraid of you, who can not fall victim to your compulsion, who can stop all of your attacks without breaking a sweat and who can whack you around like a Judy doll." Harry reached through his shield and grabbed the vampire, and with a little magic in his arms, proceeded to throw him back against the house, causing more damage to not only to the side of the house but also to the vampire.

"Now, if you were an intelligent foe you might have tried something new by this point. Trying to talk to us maybe, or maybe running." Harry walked up to his victim and grabbing him by the arm threw him back across the lawn having him land in a heap next to the road.

Checking around to make certain that there had been no additional 'guests' joining them, or any non-combatants watching, Harry conjured a ball of fire and began to casually toss it from hand to hand as he walked back to the crumpled vampire. He then tossed the fireball onto the vampire, who instantly burst into flames; moments later there was nothing left except a small pile of ash.

"But no," he said addressing the ashes, "like Buffy said, you are all really dumb."

"Like your style," Buffy commented from her own pile of dust, she had taken the time to finish off the first vampire who she had attacked, "And I like how you have incapacitated one of them so we can 'talk' with him."

"I try," Harry said a small smile crossing his face, "After all he went to the trouble to come and play with us it would not due to have him leave without our having had a chance to express our gratitude now would it?"

"I guess not Harry. Now let's get him up and we can take him home and question him where we won't be disturbed."

"Not necessary, Buffy. I'll simply strip what he knows from his mind."

"Mind reading? That usually doesn't work with vampires."

"Not in the way you are thinking, this is more of a focused attack, rather than reading. I've been able to get information out of vampires before, and this one looks too young to be able to put up any great resistance."

"Whatever works is ok with me."

"Alright then," Harry said as he flicked his left wrist to release his wand from its hidden holster. Seeing that Buffy had focused on his wand he continued, "For work of this nature I've always had best results when I use a wand."

Kneeling down beside the vampire Harry grabbed him by the head, forcing him to look into his eyes. After a moment he released his grasp on the vampire's head and looked over at Buffy before saying, "With a weak-minded opponent, or someone who is young, that is often enough. However, this guy is stronger than that; I was not able to use subtle means."

Grabbing the vampire's head again he gestured with his wand and whispered, "_Legilimens!_"

Five minutes later he dropped the vampire's head to the ground, wiped his hands on the grass as if he was cleaning them of some unseen stain, and stood back up. With a gesture from his wand the vampire burst into flame, resulting in the usual small pile of ash, with another motion the chains which had bound the vampire disappeared. Sighing he turned away from the remains and returned his wand to its holster.

"I hate vampires," he whispered as he raised his arms above his head, working non-existent stiffness from his back.

"No argument here," Buffy agreed, "did he know anything?"

"Not too much, just that his sire, got her name and a good description, regularly meets with a human at a bar down near the docks at a place called the 'Broken Oar'. He did not know anything about magic users or any groups of humans in the area acting strangely. There was something else, he seemed to think that his sire was different from other vampires, was able to do things that the others couldn't."

"Great, that's all we need now, some kind of a super-vampire. But that can wait till we check out that bar. And that can wait for another day or so. Its late, we did get some information and we should probably head back."

"Ok with me, I'm still knackered from the jet-lag anyway. I could do with a good kip."

"I'm happy Willow suggested the beach tomorrow it will be good for all of us, damn that girl is spooky sometimes with being able to figure out what we need."

Reaching out with her mind she then called, _"Lover, you there?"_

"_Not going anywhere."_

"_We're you watching?"_

"_Nope, too busy talking with Hermione and the boys about magic."_

"_Found some vamps, got a lead, and dusted the vamps, heading home."_

"_Love you, see you soon."_

Forty-five minutes later Harry and Buffy were sitting with their lovers in the soaking pool. Buffy had fed her daughter when she returned to the house and the four little girls were now happily asleep in their nursery. Harry had briefed the others on what he had found in the vampire's mind; Willow had agreed with Buffy and had decided to hold of checking the information in depth until later in the week, there was just too much work to be done in setting up their organization. Bill had indicated that he would use his influence with the local police to have them set up surveillance on the building, on the excuse that there may be organized crime dealing drugs at the bar, using it as a front.

"Gods this is great," Harry sighed as he relaxed in the water, "Mi love we have got to build one of these in my place when we get back."

"I agree, this is so nice."

"As much as I agree," Buffy said, "I'm out of here for bed, tomorrow will be here soon enough and we have a busy day planned." Turning to the other three American women she added, "Coming loves?"

With the departure of their hosts Harry and Hermione were left to lounge in the soaking pool. After relaxing for another twenty minutes Hermione turned to her friend and said, "Harry love, let's to bed. I've another way to relax you."

"That sounds wonderful," Harry said as he gathered her into an embrace and with a soundless pop they disappeared to their bedroom.

--

_(Wednesday November 8__th__ 2000, 07:11GMT, 02:11EST, 23:11PST (7__th__))_

CNN's election center had been carrying the results since the closing of the polls on the east coast. The results had mirrored, for the most part, the pre-election speculation. The Vice-President was easily carrying the north-east with the exception of New Hampshire, the north central and results from the west coast had shown those states were also going Democrat. Governor Bush was leading or had carried the remaining states with three exceptions. Both Tennessee and Florida were still too close to call, even hours after the polls had closed in both states and New Mexico had declared for Al Gore.

The lead anchor broke into the round-table discussion which had been filling airtime by stating, "CNN has now called the state of Tennessee for Governor Bush. With ninety-eight percent of the polls now reporting Governor Bush has captured the home-state of his opponent.

"This will be a blow for the Vice-President. With polling now closed in all states but Hawaii, and with that state indicating a seventeen point lead for the Democrats it is safe to call it for the Vice-President, the election will be going down to the wire with only one state deciding the outcome.

"At this point in the electoral count the Vice-President has two hundred and sixty-six Electoral College votes from States where he is leading or elected; and he is therefore leading Governor Bush by twenty votes. However, Florida with their twenty-five will decide the outcome of the election.

"We go now to our correspondent, Susan Smolken in Nashville for an update and reaction from the Gore campaign."

The blond haired young correspondent smiled, squared her shoulders and then said, "Thank-you Bill. I am here at Gore headquarters where understandably the news of the results from Tennessee has put a pall on the proceedings. A win here would have given the election to the Vice-President; now, with Florida still in doubt, the crowd gathered here is nervous and anxious.

"Most of this crowd has been here for several hours now, waiting for the results. They have, until this point, been incredibly energetic and enthusiastic as the results have come in from across the country. Enthusiasm which has now dimmed."

At that point, as if to disagree with her words, a disturbance could be seen in the crowd behind the young woman. A number of people had begun to clap and cheer, which was swiftly carried through the crowd. The reporter looked over her shoulder at the noise and then turned back to the camera saying, "Bill, something has happened here. The crowd has broken out into sustained cheering and applause. Obviously someone has received word that a result has come in which is favourable to the Gore camp."

The network anchor cut short her commentary by interjecting, "Excuse me Susan, but CNN election center, with ninety-nine percent of the polls reporting, has now called the State of Florida, and the election, for Vice-President, now President elect, Al Gore."

--

_(Unknown time, unknown place)_

Deep in the dominion which separated and joined all worlds and realities the being acknowledged on Earth as the Goddess smiled as she sat on her throne in an ornate but otherwise empty hall.

Thinking to herself, 'that was one plan my servants were able to disrupt with no great difficulty. If that construct had won the election it would have given the foe a great advantage, one that may not have been surmountable.'

As if drawn by her thoughts she was joined by another being. A cat softly padded up to her and began to entwine itself between her legs; pausing, as if to collect herself, she then jumped up onto the Goddess's lap and arching out her head and neck pressed up against the hand of the divine being.

Smiling she looked down at her servant and began to scratch behind the cat's ears before saying, "shadow-cat; I like that name. You and your sister have done well. Now jump down from here and change, you know you can not talk to me in your current form."

The cat paused its purring and looked up at her master with hooded eyes, as if complaining that she was being deprived of her proper attention, before turning and leaping from her perch. As she made the journey to the floor the cat began to shimmer and grow to almost twenty times its original size.

The huge lynx landed and turned back to the Goddess then cocked its head to the side and said, "I like being small, easier to hide and to get the attention I'm due."

"Insolent beast."

"It's my nature, now how may I serve?"

"You have fully bonded with the human," it was not a question, rather a simple statement of fact.

"Yes, and?"

"I need you to get your sister to bond with the other woman, the new one that just arrived."

"She is away finishing off that little task you gave us. But when she returns I'll let her know. But can I ask why, since my darling twin has no love for a smaller form?"

"You can always ask."

"But are you going to tell me?" The large cat asked, tail twitching in annoyance.

"I do not know for certain."

"Colour me stunned, my Goddess admitting she does not know everything?"

"Hush, you know better. Now I know it is important for her to bond with your sister, however, what will result from that bond is still hidden from me by the actions of our foe. So you are going to have to be most convincing with her."

"That will have to do, I guess," the cat said, "I can persuade and I will. Shame it is not her turn to travel back and forth between realms so that you could talk to her, it would be easier."

"That it would, and unfortunately I must still play by the rules and can not manifest myself on that plane of existence just now without being called."

The cat turned away from her master and began to walk away, before stopping, looking back and asking, "Do I have your leave to go?"

"Nice of you to ask, but yes you do."

At those words the cat shimmered, once again regaining the size of a normal house-cat. Stretching out, as if to massage strained muscles, the cat turned, bowed its head, and disappeared.

Laughing to herself the Goddess thought, 'the tools I have to work with. Well at least they do keep me in good humour.' Her mood quickly changing to a more sombre one she continued, 'I only hope that they, my avatar and the people she will be working with will be able to weather the upcoming storm.'

--

A/N – thanks all for reading, please review if you have a moment. I apologize for the delay in getting this out, my job in real life involves a lot of writing and over the last few weeks I've had to write several memorandums to cabinet, treasury board submissions, budgets and policy documents. Writing that much government fiction does not give me a lot of time to work on Si. On top of all that I've had to travel across the country twice and once over to England.


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